Down We Go
by Dark-kunoichi
Summary: AU Highschool.Sakura need to find freedom from her stepfather. Gaara is hiding from life. sasusaku nejigaa and little DeiNeji. Warnings: CH. 9 LEMON
1. Chapter 1

disclaimer: I own nothing but my car,... and Jin... But i dont want him, so i will sell him!

A/N: Oh yeah this is my first story forgive me if it is bad. I must givethanks to my BETAJunsui Kegasu, I would be so lost without her! Oh yeah abuse along with some other things later on. it IS rated M.

* * *

Chapter 1: First Day

Haruno Sakura woke up as usual for her first day at a new school. Slowly she looked into her mirror to assess the damage that had been done to her in last night's "family affair". This normally consisted of her stepfather getting completely smashed, and then deciding that it would be a good time to beat on his seventeen year old daughter.

"Shit," she muttered all but to her self, considering there was no one else in the room.

She then reached for a towel, and made her way to the bathroom. Sakura began to run the water to her shower. While she waited for the water to warm, she took a long look at everything. Her head had been busted open on the left side, which left her hair to be caked with a little bit of blood. Not surprisingly her left eye was also adorned with a blue-ish color that almost rivaled black. She knew that she was going to have to work some serious magic with her make-up to hide all of that.

'How am I going to explain this? Well, that is if anyone notices it. I mean did he really have to hit me in the face last night? Jin (A/N: That is what I declare her Step-dads name to be) really was a smart guy... abusive... but smart, he knew that I had school today!'

The bathroom started to steam as she climbed into her shower. Everything that had happened the pervious night was just as it was stated: in the past. As she washed the sweat and blood from her body, memories from last night came flooding back.

* * *

"_Come here, Sakura dear..."_

_'Oh... this can't be good'_

_His hand shot out, fixing itself in her hair. A small noise of shock came from her lips._

_"You know what I want, don't you, Sakura-chan?" he stated it in an almost seductive way._

_His hand began to creep its way down her neck, gently skimming across the collar bone as it traveled further south"_

_'Ugh... I don't have time for this tonight, I have school tomorrow!'_

_A smile graced her otherwise empty face. It was forced, and she knew it. Her only freedom from tonight's torture was going to be sweet talk, and she knew it was her only way out._

_"Sorry pops, but you know tomorrow is a school night and I'm afraid I just won't be able to handle that tonight." She sounded sickeningly sweet, and she thought she was going to vomit right then and there._

_She knew that it was a dumb mistake, a very dumb mistake to try to back out of what he had planned tonight, but she just couldn't deal with him right now. Jin's auburn eyes lit up to an almost fiery red. She knew right then and there she was going to have at least one mark grace her skin for school tomorrow. Hopefully, she thought, it would be somewhere she could hide it._

* * *

"No, that dumb fuck couldn't keep from messing up my face."

She winced as she slid soap over the abrasion that graced her large forehead. It wasn't that Sakura was self-conscious, she really didn't care what people thought about her, but it was the truth; Sakura's forehead was large. After all was said and done, a new, clean Sakura removed herself from her shower, only to step outside her bathroom and freeze.

'NO, NOT RIGHT NOW!'

Jin was standing right outside her bathroom door. 'Was he waiting for me to come out?' He smiled lecherously at her small frame. His eyes scanned the towel that hung loosely at the top of her full breast.

"Oh, Sakura," Jin began speaking to her, but his eyes remained fixed on her thin body. "I will be leaving town for a few months," Sakura's emerald orbs lit up only for a second before returning into a blank stare, "or it might be longer. I have to attend to some affairs at the company."

Jin noticed the fleeting look that her eyes had. Sakura soon found herself against a wall with her feet dangling right above the floor. Jin's mouth came to her ear as warm air puffed onto her neck and ear; Sakura found herself becoming slightly ill.

"Oh I wouldn't be to happy darlin', I won't leave until Wednesday afternoon, and I plan to get as much fun out of you as I can until then." Sakura was dropped unceremoniously to the floor. She sat there for a minute,

trying to settle her stomach. Slowly, she rose and made her way to her room.

_Ring...ring...ring...ring..._

"Hello?" Sakura snapped into the receiver.

" H-h-hello, Sa-Sakura-chan," came a meek voice on the other end. Sakura almost instantly felt horrible, and began to soften her voice to almost match the girl on the other end.

"I'm sorry Hinata-chan I just got into an argument with Jin," Sakura sighed. She really hated to lie and especially when person she was lying to was Hinata. She had known the Hyuuga for the majority of her life. Hinata had moved away when both of them were only fourteen. Both her and Sakura were the best of friends, and still continued to talk, and write. When she found out that they had to move, mainly because certain people began to suspect what was going on in the Haruno household, she called her best friend right away to give her the news.

"Oh, o-o-ok, umm... I was j-just calling to tell you th-that I was going t-to be there in about fifteen minutes." Hinata stated calming down just a little bit.

"Okay Hinata-chan. I will see you in a little bit. Bye"

"Goodbye."

Sakura flew into super speed mode. She took her damp hair that lay flat a little past her shoulders, and ran a brush through her pastel locks. She had left her bangs out so that they hung over the left side of her face. She did a few quick swipes of foundation to try and hide her new bruise. Of course, Sakura had been used to this treatment for a while now, and even though the thought of being proud to be able to hide such vulgar marks on her otherwise flawless skin sickened her, she couldn't help but feel a little pride, no matter how shameful it was. She then took out her grey kohl eyeliner and applied it ever so gently, but quickly to her swollen eye, and just as swiftly to the other. Her glasses were the last thing she put on. Her normal contacts would not do today for the simple fact that she wouldn't be able to open her eye that far at all. It wasn't swollen shut, just swollen so that she couldn't go all bug-eyed to put them in. Now that her face was intact, she walked to her closet. She pulled out a short-sleeved baby-tee that was red with the saying "I don't need friends like you, I have enough of my own." in black scribbled letters. She grabbed a pair of black stretchy capris, and wrapped a long chain around her waist loosely before clipping it together and letting it hang. Just then a horn sounded. Sakura peeked out her window and saw Hinata outside in her dark blue Lancer. Sakura took one last look in the mirror, satisfied. On her way out she grabbed her fingerless gloves, along with her keys and notebooks. She put on her black sandals and walked out.

"Hey Hinata-chan!" Sakura waved to her.Hinata had let here hair grown out, and it sat right at her shoulders, in small waves. She had applied a thick line of black eyeliner to the top and bottom of hers eyes.She was wearing a black sleeveless dress that sat right at her knees, and had on black fishnet gloves that went up her forearm, and a pair of black lace-up sandles. Hintata was one of the shyest people Sakura knew, but her outfit just screamed "Don't Fuck With ME!" Sakura almost had to laugh at the irony of it all.

"Hi Sakura-chan, are you ready?"

"Yep, lets get goin'."

The car then pulled out of her driveway. Sakura had all but time to listen to one song and put on her gloves before they had parked.

* * *

Hyuuga Neji had woken up to here his cousin rushing out the door, saying goodbye to everyone else she left. It probably just would have been a very quick "see ya" that rang throughout the house, but the simple fact is that anything beyond a whisper would have been very un-Hinata like. He rolled out of bed and slowly walked to the shower. Neji uncle stopped him before he reached his destination.

"You are going to be late Neji."

"Not if you get out of my way and stop talking to me," Neji grumbled. He honestly didn't know why his uncle tried to care so much. He had exited the shower just as quickly as he had entered it. His hair hung just shy of waist length dripping wet as he made his way back to his room to get dressed. Neji truly was a pretty boy, even though he never really put much effort into it. The biggest effort he made was putting on a little bit of eyeliner every now and then, and today was not one of those days.

He made his way to his closet to look for something to wear. It was still pretty warm for being September, so he couldn't add layers of clothes. He took out a pair of dark blue jeans and a button up top that was white with black and red kanji signs. He brushed his hair and pulled it into a low ponytail. On his way out the door he picked up his messenger bag, grabbed the keys to his bike, and took one glance at the clock."I'm out, with five minutes to spare!" Neji smirked knowing full and well that it had pissed his uncle off.

Neji drove his bike to school. The first day back to school was truly going to suck for him. One, because of the obvious, it was school, but the second reason was because of _him._

* * *

Gaara had been up for the last few hours, he couldn't sleep that well to begin with, and then there was that dream again. He really did hate that dream; it almost hurt him to have it every night. It was true him and Neji had had a relationship in the past, but he had to end it. It really wasn't quite fair to either of them really. Neji was a cold person to begin with, and Gaara... well he was just Gaara, void of all emotion because of outside circumstances in his life. It was really that dream that had ended it all, when both were so happy, well as happy as they could get. He glanced up at the clock, 7:20am; he had to be to school in thirty minutes. He had already taken a shower in few hours before so there was no need for that. He flipped on his light switch so he could see. Gaara had to squint his eyes until his eyes adjusted to the light. He grabbed a pair of black jeans that from wear and tear had been made into a pair of shorts. He pulled a black tank top out of his drawer, and threw a dark blue button up top over it. He then proceeded to make his way to the bathroom.

'Thank god everyone was still asleep.' He lived with his to older siblings; both had graduated already, so he was by himself in the morning unless Temari had to work. In the bathroom, he looked in the mirror and applied his black eyeliner; it took a total of five seconds at most. He was used to doing it everyday for the past five years, it was the same thing every morning, plus of minus a few things. He finally went down stairs and grabbed a piece of bread before walking out the door. Gaara was going to have to walk to school, but he didn't mind considering he live two blocks away. He was left alone to his thoughts as he walked down the street. He replayed the memory inside his head over and over again.

* * *

_"I'm sorry Neji, but we are done"_

_"WHAT?" His voice was somewhere in between 'Are you serious?' and 'I didn't quite get that'._

_"Me and you are not going to work out, we can't." Gaara's tone never changed and remained blank in true Gaara fashion._

_"Why not? Why can't we?" Neji had calmed a little bit from the shock, but anger was quickly replaced by sadness._

_"I don't care about you, you were fun for a while, but I got bored," Gaara shrugged._

_"…Oh," this was the only replied that could be given by the older teen before he walked away._

* * *

Gaara shook his head trying to rid himself of the memory. 'I am truly sorry Neji I didn't mean anything I said... but that's just how it's going to be.' Gaara sighed and kept walking.

Without even realizing it, Gaara had walked to school already. His feet carried him unconsciously there without a second thought.

"Hey, Panda-san!" Gaara had to cringe at the nickname. There was only one person that called him that the one the only...

"Naruto. What? It's to early to shout like that"

"Heh, sorry I just didn't want you to walk right past us." Gaara then looked up and was grateful that one person was absent from the group.

* * *

Hinata had just walked up to them with her best friend and was ready to introduce her to everyone. With this new member standing in front of them, all of them hushed waiting for Hinata to speak. Sakura had grown highly uneasy with this newfound attention that seemed to focus directly on her.

"Hey Hinata! Who is the new chick?"

"Oh, Hi Naruto-kun." Hinata seemed to grow increasingly shy around him. Sakura had noticed this and put a hand on her friends shoulder. "This is my best friend, Sakura-chan, she just moved here from Tokyo." Hinata started the introductions. There was Uzumaki Naruto, his blond hair and bright blue eyes made him almost child-like, and his attitude was loud and brash. The outfit he wore, light blue jeans with an orange t-shirt, with blue writing that said "spoil me, I deserve it," and orange and blue converse, did nothing but make him stand out from the black and white that everyone else was wearing.

Next there was Naruto's best friend, Uchiha Sasuke, his jet black hair was slicked back, he had pale skin, and eyes where so dark they were almost black. His outfit was much more subdued then Naruto's; it consisted of a white shirt, dark blue jeans, and white Nikes. All Sakura got from him was an "hn". Hinata was almost surprised. Later, she explained that no one, especially the girls, got a word out of Sasuke, unless he had know them forever. Hinata had been an exception for the simple fact that she was Neji's cousin. Next came Gaara, he kind of scared Sakura, it wasn't the clothes or anything like that, but those eyes were so emotionless, and yet they seemed to read into you soul at the same time. His bright red hair was in complete contrast to everything he was wearing, minus the kanji symbol he had placed on his head. He was quite attractive, he had a small build but she could tell that he had a nice body, or at least chest because his tank top was so tight. Sakura had already been informed about him, from Hinata. He was Neji's ex.

"Hey where is Neji-san?" Sakura asked Hinata. She knew a lot about Neji, she knew that he was the fact that her best friend had to leave her. She was angry at first but she understood. Neji's mother had been dead from the time he was born. Neji's father had been murdered. He simply refused to leave his fathers body and move to Tokyo, so Hiashi had moved his family to Konoha.

"Oh, Nii-san was still in bed when I left to get you Sakura-chan. So I don't know when he will show up." Like clockwork, the roar of Neji's bike could be heardfrom the school parking lot.

* * *

Neji parked his bike and walked out of the parking lot. He saw his group of friends and the one person he hadn't seen in three months. Gaara looked amazing! Neji looked at the redhead for a split second, and quickly turned away. It was no secret to anyone in the group what had happened between those two. It was just a general understanding that no one talked about it. Neji greeted everyone with a flick of the hand.

"Hey, Neji, how come you act like such a bastard when Hinata-chan here is so sweet?" Naruto asked this as he grabbed Hinata around the waist, hugging her and rubbing his face in her hair. Hinata looked like she was about to die.

"Uzumaki," Neji was beyond pissed to be using Naruto's last name, "If you know what is good for you, you _will _release my cousin." With that last sentence Neji stormed off after Naruto's hands left Hinata.

"What the fuck is wrong with him?" It seemed everyone saw what was painfully obvious except for Naruto, and Hinata at the moment, as she was left dazed.

With that last statement the bell had rung and it was time for class. Hinata was helped out of her stupor so that she could help Sakura to the office. Hinata dropped her off there and apologized for the fact that she couldn't stay and would see her later.

* * *

Sakurawas standingin front of the secretary, quietly waiting to be noticed. Finally, she looked up and acknowledged the girl. She took Sakura's information down and disappeared into a mass of folders and files. Five minutes later she returned to give Sakura a schedule and a map to find her way.

_White Day _

_English-211 - Maito Gai_

_Chemistry-905 - Hatake_

_Kakashi_

_Gym-large gym - Mitarashi Anko_

_Lunch_

_Free block_

_Blue Day_

_Advanced Math- 605- Orochimaru_

_Art-113- Sarutobi Asuma_

_Government-258- Umino Iruka_

_Lunch_

_Advanced Healing Studies- Computer rm.3- Tsunade_

'All right, room 211, here I go. I hope that he won't introduce me or anything like that. I _really _hate to be put on the spot; it's just so unfair. People tend to stare at you, and when they stare they notice stuff, which isn't good for people like me. Oh shit, I almost walked right past it! Well... here goes nothing...'

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Junsui Kegasu's BETA notes: KYAH! I'M A BETA READER! I FEEL SO…SO…_SPARKLY! _I like where this is goin'!

DK: Hummm i don't know where its goin for sure but i would really like reviews, even if they are bad, just tell me what i need to work on pweez, and tank-ya!


	2. Classes, and the Broken Mask

Disclaimer: Nope, Nope I do not own!

A/N: Hmmmm... This is a revamp on my chapter; I deleted the previous 1 in an act of stupidity. So I had to start again. Thank you to my BETA Junsui Kegasu. I would be lost at sea without her. I am soooo sorry this took so long. Please forgive me!

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Warning: This story contains abuse, Yaoi, and drug usage. Don't like; don't read! It really is that simple!

Ch.2: Classes and the Broken Mask

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Last Chapter:

'All right, room 211, here I go. I hope that he won't introduce me...I really hate to be put on the spot; it's just so unfair. People tend to stare at you, and when they stare they notice stuff, which isn't good for people like me. Oh shit, I almost walked right past it! Well... here goes nothing...'

* * *

"OK, THE POWER OF YOUTHFULNESS HAS ONCE AGAIN TAKEN OVER ON THIS NEW YEAR," Gai-sensei stated as random waterfalls crashed in the background.

Sakura slowly opened the door, hoping that she would be able to take her seat and not be noticed. Sakura never got what she wanted though, and today would be no exception. "AH... AND IT SEEMS THAT WE WILL BE ADDING MORE HOTBLOODED YOUTH TO THIS CLASS."

'Dammit, I thought he wouldn't notice that I came in.' Sakura handed her paperwork to him and started to walk to an empty seat.

"WAIT! I SEE THAT YOU ARE FULL OF EAGERNESS, OH YOUTHFUL ONE. I WOULD LIKE YOU TO SAY A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF SO THAT THE OTHERS MIGHT GET TO KNOW YOU."

'Damn why is he so fucking loud, it's eight o'clock in the freaking morning.' Sakura had finally looked over at her new teacher. He looked like a reject out of a Bruce Lee movie. The shine from his hair and teeth blinded her any time the sun hit it, and that god-awful green suit… Sakura could not help but cringe. She took a deep breath and started to speak. "My name is Haruno Sakura, I am seventeen years old, and I moved here from Tokyo. I like music. That is all."

"OH, HOW YOUTH SHINES!" Another random waterfall crashed in the background.

'How the hell does he do that?' Sakura wondered, but then changed her mind. She, in fact did not want to know how he did what he did and decided that she wanted to know as little about him as humanly possible.

Sakura walked to the back and took a seat near the window. "AHHH! Gai-sensei! How come that ugly girl gets to sit beside Sasuke-kun?" Sakura looked over; she hadn't realized that she had indeed sat beside the stoic boy she met earlier this morning.

"Don't worry Ino-chan, you know that Sasuke can't stand to sit near another girl after what happened last year. He will get up and move later," said a girl sitting next to her. Sakura had glanced over in the direction of the blond that had spoken; she was fuming to say the least. Just then, Sakura felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Hey Sakura-chan, don't worry about Ino. She is a complete bitch!" Naruto started talking to her and asking her about her classes. Sakura took this time to look around to see whom else she would have known from earlier this morning. It seemed that the only people she knew were Sasuke, Naruto, and Gaara. Naruto sat behind her while Sasuke sat beside her. Gaara was in his own little corner at the other side of the room sitting there writing something down at a feverish pace. Sakura was saddened at this, just for the simple fact that Hinata wasn't there. Naruto asked to see her schedule, and she handed it to him. She went back to a daze of staring out the window that she had been seated by.

Once again, the tapping on her back was there, snapping her out of her thoughts, which weren't really thoughts to begin with, just random sentences that popped into her head.

"Look, you got lucky, all of us have a free block at the end of the day so we can just go home and relax." Sakura flinched at the simple thought of seeing Jin anymore then she had to. Sasuke, who had been paying attention to the whole conversation noticed this and took a mental note.

"Well, do you know if I have any classes with Hinata?" Sakura asked.

"Oh... Hm... Yeah! You do; she has chemistry next period, and I know that she wanted to take advanced healing, I think she has that too." Sakura relaxed a little bit, knowing that her best friend was with her some of the day. "Yo, Sasuke. Don't you have chemistry next period too?" Naruto asked, almost hinting to something that Sakura didn't quite get.

Sasuke lifted his head off the desk, and let out a long sigh as if he was irritated that he had been disturbed. "Yes I do, now shut-up; it's too early to be this talkative in the morning. Isn't Gai-sensei enough?"

Naruto didn't know how to take this statement, but before he could speak Gai had broken into another one of his rants. He began passing out books, and the curriculum that the class was going to be studying. Sakura glanced down at the paper and noticed that there were two semester projects that counted for seventy-five percent of their grade. 'How the hell is that fair? If you fail that or get a horrible grade on it, there is no fixing it!' She looked around and noticed that most of the other people had the same look on their face.

The rest of the class went in the same fashion. Gai kept talking about poetry and going through the curriculum for that year. Sakura was in a daze most of the class period. Every now and then Naruto would try to talk to her, but she really wasn't paying attention. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that the Uchiha boy kept looking over at her, even if it was for a few seconds if that.

'What is he looking at?' Sakura wondered as she drifted off into another daze. She began to stare out the same window that she was occupied with earlier. Eventually she got bored with watching the birds and glanced at the clock. 'Only five minutes left.' Slowly, she started to organize her things.

"Oh, I will explain the semester projects next class." Sakura thought for a minute and realized that it was the first time during the whole class that Gai-sensei was speaking in a normal tone.

RINGGGGGGGG

"OK LET YOUR YOUTH GUIDE YOU! CLASS DISMISSED"

As everyone left Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke remained. They were taking their sweet time, and were not in any rush to get to their next class. "Oh, Naruto do you know where my chemistry class is?"

"Well, I do, but it's on the other side from where my class is. Hey Sasuke why don't you walk her to class?"

Sasuke could do nothing but look at Naruto and glared. He really didn't want to drag the girl around and have her follow him like she was some lost dog. Sakura noticed this and opted to save him the trouble of being rude.

"No, that's ok Naruto I will find it on my own. I don't want to trouble anyone. If you could, can you point me in the right direction?"

Sasuke looked like he was going to pass out from shock. It had been the first time that he could remember that a female did not want to be in his company. It wasn't that he was insulted, just that he was not used to it. After overcoming the initial disbelief he grabbed her by the arm and walked her out the door.

Sakura shrunk at this gesture automatically. Sasuke, once againnoticed this and left it as a mantle note.

"Come on I'm goin' that way just follow me."

"Huh, umm... ok..."

Naruto was left dumbfounded as he watched his best friend walk away with said girl. He then realized that he was going to be really late and hauled ass out the door.

Not a word was spoken between the two of them the entire walk. Both of them seemed to like it that way. Sasuke hated to be in the company of anyone really, even Naruto was too much for him sometimes. Sakura just didn't like mindless chatter and was happy just walking. They finally came to a hallway that was almost deserted and at the very end reached their class.

The teacher was not there yet so everyone was still standing and talking. Both Sakura and Sasuke took their seats. Sakura found Hinata and took a seat beside her, and Sasuke sat behind Hinata.

"Thank god. I thought I was not going to see you all day, Hinata!"

"Oh, hi Sakura-chan. How was your first class?"

"It was hmmm... interesting? I think that's a good word to describe it." Sakura said while laughing. Hinata looked confused at this and turned to Sasuke. Sasuke mouthed "Gai", and all was understood.

Fifteen minutes after the bell rang a man with silver hair finally walked in. He was holding a book that seemed to Sakura to be a smutty romance novel. Sakura was just happy he wasn't another Gai. It was just to damn early to be that happy and enthusiastic. This man seemed laid back and pretty much uncaring about teaching all together.

Nothing eventful happened in this class at all. Text books where assigned and the layout for the year was given to them as well. The rest of the time was filled in with chatter and talking. Hinata and Sakura filled each other in on their summers and talked about the old times. Sasuke was just listening, for some reason this new girl interested him.

'Why does she interest me? She is not pretty, actually she is rather plain if you minus the pink hair.' Sasuke did take notice of one thing in particular. While speaking with Hinata, Sakura kept looking down, her arms wrapped around herself. 'She's hiding something'

Next was gym this seemed to bring the whole group back together that Sakura had met this morning. Neji was a year ahead of them and was graduating this year. He didn't really need this class at all, but he took gym because he liked sports. Again not much was going to happen for the simple fact that it was the first day. Lockers were given out, and normal paperwork was handed to the students. Everyone in the group was making small talk until the bell rang for lunch.

* * *

"Hey Hinata-chan, I have a free block after this... sooo..."

"Oh, That's ok Sakura, we all do. Normally we go to someone's house after lunch, well that's what we did last year during our free period. I think it would be a good idea if everyone came to our house today. Is that ok Neji?"

Neji looked like he wanted to burn a hole through his cousin's head. That meant that everyone would be there and everyone included him. Neji was still very angry and hurt over what was said during the breakup.

NEJI'S POV

I can't believe what just came out of your mouth! I can't do anything but glare at you. I can tell that you are scared because you shrink back toward Naruto. Do you even know? Well... of course you know, but if everyone comes over then _he_ will be there. I don't want to see him; I _can't _see him. We haven't spoken since that day. I really can't do anything now. I'm in a daze. I hear you try to say something, but it comes out muffled and you're stuttering because I made you nervous. I get up to walk out; I'm going home now.

"Hey Neji where are you goin'" I think it was Naruto's voice, but I'm not sure. I turn around and the only reply I can think of comes out, "home".

I walk out into the courtyard. There you are sitting by a tree, notebook in hand. I have come to notice something; you are never without something to write in. I can't move; no matter how hard I try, I'm stuck. There I am staring at you, they way you look writing down in your book, I wonder what you are writing; I always did but never asked. It always just seemed wrong to ask.

It must have been ten minutes that I was out there staring, but I can't help it I miss you. You look up, like you have finally noticed that someone was looking at you. You look straight into my eyes; there was a flash of an expression in you face, pain? I quickly look the other way, and start my way to the parking lot to grab my bike, and go home.

GAARA'S POV

I decide to go outside for lunch. I really didn't feel like walking home right now. Even if I did feel like it Naruto would probably have a fit if I tried to leave without sitting, and talking with everyone. So here I am sitting outside under a tree, writing in my book. That's what I do all day is write. I use my life and music to find my inspiration. Right now I have zoned out completely as my hand scribbles words down at an erratic pace. I have finally finished what I was writing. I go to close my book and put it back in my bag.

I can feel someone looking at me, so I look up. It's you. I hold your gaze for a minute, and hope you didn't notice the completely pathetic look that crossed my face. You open your mouth as if to say something but settle for looking hurt, and angry. You eventually break the unseen force that has been keeping our eyes locked, and walk away. I am so sorry really I am. I didn't want to do it but I had to, it's better this way. I know I did what was right for you and me individually. The thing is that I didn't do what was right for us.

I open my book, there is still more that needs to be said...

"Hey! Panda-san!" I cringe at that name, of all things he thinks I look like a fucking panda? I look up at him to acknowledge that I heard him. Let's get goin' we are gonna go to Hinata's house today."

Perfect, could this day get any worse?

NORMAL POV

"Alright Hinata, lets go!' Naruto looked like he was ready to run a marathon with as much energy as he had. Hinata couldn't help but giggle. "Hey we're missing somebody. Where is panda-san?" Everyone sweat-dropped.

"Y-you know N-Naruto, G-Ga-Gaara really does hate that name." Hinata stated looking at those big blue eyes. Oh how she could get lost in them. She shook herself out of her daydream before anyone noticed.

"I know Hinata-chan, that's why I do it." Naruto said with a cat-like grin plastered to his face.

"I'm surprised he hadn't killed you yet idiot." Everyone looked at Sasuke, it was the first time he had said anything the entire forty-five minutes they had been at lunch.

"Awww... he wouldn't do that-- hey! Panda-san! Let's get goin' we are gonna go to Hinata's house today."

There they were getting ready to pile into their cars. Naruto, Gaara and Sasuke into Sasuke's black/white GTO, Hinata and Sakura into Hinata's Lancer, and off they went to the Hyuuga estate.

Five minutes later, they reached the estate. It was a very nice house to live in. The house actually belonged to Neji now that he was eighteen. Everyone had parked their cars and got out making their way toward the door. Once inside everybody took off his or her shoes. Hinata made her way upstairs while everyone else made them selves comfortable in the living room.

Hinata had gone upstairs to change; she loved that dress and didn't want to mess it up. She settled for a pair of black sweatpants and a white tank top. On her way out she stopped by Neji's room, she knew he was home she could here "Another Brick in The Wall", by "Korn" faintly coming from the room.

"Neji, why don't you come down stairs and join the living today?" Hinata suggested. She knew what he was waiting to here, and sadly she couldn't tell him that. She watched him for a few minutes, his lips moving to the words his eyes closed. He was still waiting for the answer to the unspoken question. "Yes Neji, Gaara is downstairs as well." With that being said he flinched and waved her out the door. She shut the door on her way out, and joined her company downstairs.

"Hey is Neji going to be joining us?" Sakura asked, she kind of wanted to get to know the elder Hyuuga a little bit more then a description, and the information that Hinata had gave to her. "No, Sakura-chan, he still isn't home." Everyone knew it was a lie, but said nothing.

"Well what shall we do?" Everyone talked about certain things and no one could really decide on what to do. In the end they sat there talking. Gaara was still writing, but once in a while he added to the discussion. It wasn't that everyone ignored him, but rather they knew when he wanted to talk he would.

Sasuke decide that now would be a good time to get to know his new seatmate. "So what kind of music do you like?" Sakura looked genuinely shocked that he was talking to her. They had just been sitting there listening to Hinata and Naruto talk. Well, Actually it was Naruto talking while Hinata smiled and nodded every now and then. He wasn't sure she heard him so he repeated himself.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was just kind of shocked that you were speaking to me voluntarily." She said this as a completely honest statement. "After the look you gave Naruto when he asked you to walk me to chemistry, I kind of figured that you didn't really want to be bothered by me, but to answer you question I do like all types of music. Mostly rock, but I can listen to anything as long as it's not a bunch of randomly thrown together words on top of a hot beat." Sasuke had to laugh, just a little.

"I know what you mean, the rock scene is still pretty decent, but... hip-hop, and rap have gone down the drain. I don't think that there is any hope in bringing them back together." Sasuke shook his head as if he was ashamed of it all. Sakura smiled at this when her phone rang. She put her finger up as if to say hold on and walked out of the room. Sasuke silenced Naruto, so her conversation could be heard.

"Hi... No, I'm at Hinata's house... No, I didn't forget...but... NO!... That's not fair...WHAT? FINE! Alright I'm coming home." She came back in the room trying to put on her best smile. I'm sorry you guys but I have to go home now.

"Is everything ok Sakura-chan?"

"Oh, yeah Hinata, but you know Jin, what he says goes. So... I got to leave." Sakura went to give Hinata a hug to say goodbye. As Sakura was about to walk out the door a voice stopped her.

"Hey Sakura, how are you getting home?"

"Oh Sasuke, I was just gonna walk. Its not that far maybe about twenty minutes."

"Oh, well I have to go home anyways. Did you want a ride?"

"No, that's ok I really don't wanna be a bother. Besides it's nice out today. I can walk." Sakura was trying to be as nice as she could, but the truth was that she didn't want Jin to see her with somebody, a guy nonetheless.

"No, I insist it won't be a bother and I could talk to you a little more." Sasuke was really starting to get confused here he was, offering her a ride, and she was refusing him. 'What the hell? Does she even know that all the girls would kill to be her right now?

SASUKE POV

I think I was in such a daze that I didn't even hear you answer me. What was that did you say something? I look over at you, and you speak again. You accept my offer, but there is something in your voice, you must really not like me at all, or maybe you are hiding something. We climb into my car and start to take off.

I can't help but glace over at you. What is it about you? You are not that pretty, and are kind of rude, almost cold like me. 'What the hell? What am I thinking?' God I wish these thoughts would just go away. You look over at me. Did you notice that I was staring? "Hey Sasuke, do you think we could stop and get something to eat?"

"Huh?" I don't think that I heard you. So you repeat yourself. The look on you face is almost pleading as you turn to me. I'm start to stare at you again and this time something catches my eye. You notice it and look away muttering: "never mind." I pull up to a nice diner, that way we can talk. We get out of the car and make our way to a table.

We both order a glass of water and a cheeseburger with fries. I want to ask you what happened, but something tells me that I shouldn't. "What happened to your head?" Awww... shit did I just say that out loud?" Now I KNOW that I shouldn't have said anything. The look on you face says it all, it only crosses your face for a second, but I still see it. I can tell that you wear a mask, just like me.

SAKURA POV

'Oh, shit. Oh shit. He knows. Shut up! He is just asking, that's it, nothing else.' I turn to look at you trying to think of some random excuse. " Oh, I just fell, and hit my head." Oh is all you can reply. I know that was a lame ass lie, but you don't press it. I can tell by the look in your face you can tell that I'm being dishonest. I am truly thankful that you don't ask anymore, or try to pry. The thing is that I'm happy to be back with Hinata and I want to stay here as long as I can. The less you know the better.

Our food arrives and we begin to eat. We start making small talk, not the mindless chatter that most small talk consists of, but actual information being exchanged. I find out that you have an older brother that you live with, but something's off about that. You ask me about my parents, and for the first time I don't know how to answer you, but I try to with the best of my ability. "My mom..." I start out and can already feel the tears forming, "she died four years ago... there was accident, or something, I never learned much about it, just that she died." You look truly sorry for me. Please don't I really don't want you to pity me. I continue on with my past.

"After that I lived with my step-father. You go from looking sorry for me to confused. I forgot I left out the beginning. "... Oh I never got to know my father, my real father. He left us when before my mom had me. She was really young, and I guess he couldn't handle it." Even though I tried to stop the tears they start to flow. I'm so sorry I don't mean to cry in front of you, but it hurt too much to hold them back any longer. I feel your hand come to my face to wipe my tears away. You tell me that I don't have to continue if I don't want to, but I keep going.

I am not going to tell you everything. I can't tell you everything. If you, or anybody finds out I will have to leave. I don't want to leave; Hinata is all I have left. She may be fine without me, but without her I am lost in my own nothingness. I finish talking about my mom, and everything that was good about her. The tears have finally stopped, but I'm still shaking. You look at me, and it seems that you are contemplating on speaking.

"My parents, they are gone to." I hear those words, but there is no emotion behind them. It strikes me as odd. I look into your eyes, and there it is: the pain and heartbreak that I so openly show. It's hidden all in your eyes. No one can see that, but I can. I am normally so incredibly good with my mask, but I let it crack, No it broke in front of you. I look at my phone to see the time. "Umm... Sasuke, I really do have to go home, I'm sorry."

We finish eating in silence. You don't seem offended that I put an end to our conversation. You pay the bill, even after I have pulled out money and laid it on the table. I protest to this, but they fall on deaf ears. You pick up my money, and take my hand. I'm in such a daze; I don't even notice the fact that you have placed the money in it. "Let's get going." You words snap me out of my thoughts and we walk to you car.

NORMAL POV

The drive takes only a few minutes to get there. They pull up in front of the house finding none other then Jin, waiting. Sakura looks increasingly nervous at this fact. Sasuke reaches over to grab her hand, as if to tell her to clam down. She knows that she should prepare for the worst tonight.

While holding her hand he leans over to her ear. "Here", he slips a piece of paper into the pocket of her skirt," if you need anything, or want to talk, call me. It's my cell so don't worry about the time." She nods in comprehension; if he had blinked he wouldn't have caught it. Sakura gets out of the car, and makes sure all her belongings are there.

She begins to take the long walk toward Jin. 'Please don't hit me with Sasuke looking.' Jin grabs her shoulder. She feels like her whole arm is about to be disconnected. To anyone that would pass by it would look as if a father was scolding his daughter. Sakura kept a straight face; she didn't want Sasuke to suspect anything. She nodded and waited until Sasuke had driven off before she lost it.

"What the fuck took you so long?" Jin screamed as soon as the car was out of sight. "And who was that boy you were with?"

"Jin I'm s-s-sorry", she used every ounce of strength to hold back the salty water that threatened to run down her face. "Hinata invited me over, and-"

"Shut up! Take your ass inside, and wait for me on the couch." His voice had calmed down a little bit, but Sakura still feared the repercussions of having lunch with Sasuke. 'I thought nothing could bring this day down. I was finally back with Hinata, the only person I have left at all. However life is life, and that is all I have.'

Sakura sits down, but only for a moment before the rampage starts.

"You stupid bitch! You have only been here one day and you are already whoring yourself out?"

"No! Jin! It wasn't like that! I sw-" Sakura could feel the burning on her cheek, and the throbbing of her already black eye. She could not do or say anything now; there wouldn't be another chance for her to speak her piece tonight. Jin continued his assault. He picked her up off the couch by the hair so that she was at his level. Sakura felt a sharp pain in her ribs before she hit the ground. Jin kicked her five times before she had thrown up everything that had been eaten about fifteen minutes prior to that.

"What the hell? I told you that you we not allowed to eat today! After the shit you pulled last night, you shouldn't eat for a week!"

'What shit I pulled? Refusing your advances from the night before? I'm sorry Pops, but punishment for not having sex with you hardly seems fair.' Sakura wanted to glare at this man that stood before her. He continued his insults, and picked her back up to continue his beating. Sakura's head and back were slammed against the wall; knocking all the air out of her already bruised ribs. Her head hit the wall again harder. "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry." She was not crying, she no longer cried on front of this man. Her body was shaking from adrenaline that raced through her body.

"I'm sorry," she uttered again as her eyes succumbed to the darkness.

* * *

A/N: Thank you to the reviews thatI got. the moreI get the happierI am. Well you know the drill R&R.

BETA Notes: WAH, so sorry this took so long, I've been working on my own stuff…9.9


	3. Bruises and Flashbacks

Disclaimer: I do in fact own Naruto. Well that's what my dreams tell me. (looks at lawyers) Lawyers: (shakes head). Well ok I don't, but I wish I did. Oh the song in here is by Green Day "Give Me Novocain"

A/N: I am a little disappointed with reviews. I have done the math. For every 30 people that read my story I get 1 review. I do love y'all that do review thought thank ya! Oh and I cannot forget to send out thank-ya's to my oh-so-wonderful BETA reader Junsui Kegasu. Thank-ya! Thank-ya!

Warnings: standards apply. This is rated M. Contains abuse, drug use, yoai... humm and whatever else I decide to fucking throw you. Oh, language.

* * *

Last time

Sakura got the shit knocked out of her, and blacked out.

* * *

**Chapter Three: Bruises and Flashbacks**

Sakura awoke, she was on the floor, but this was all her sleepy mind could comprehend before the electrifying pain took over her body. Suddenly everything from the previous night came back. She began to cough, trying to keep quiet. The last thing she needed was Jin to wake up. Her body hurt enough as it is because of him. She didn't need anything else tonight.

The coughing fit continued soon a warm metallic taste filled her mouth. Blood poured from her soft lips, staining them burgundy. Her body was retching uncontrollably, it was at this moment that the pain from her ribs made itself known. Gasping for air at the sheer feeling, the coughing stopped.

Sakura got up making her way to the bathroom to sum up the damage. She knew it was bad, she could feel it through her body. Every move felt like it was killing her, inside, and out. Eventually, she made it there. Flipping on the light switch, she hesitated.

Sakura really did not want to look at her face; out of the corner of her eye she saw the new bruise. It covered her entire cheek. Now no matter how good Sakura was with make-up, there was no hiding this. Not even her hair could cover it, well not without looking like "cousin It"!

Sakura leaned over the sink. She hissed when her ribs barely grazed the counter. She removed her shirt, and there it was, from her chest down was black and blue swollen. She took this time to look at the rest of her top half. Bruises were everywhere. Some from the beating that she remembered, other probably were formed some time after she passed out. Sakura felt something tickle the back of her neck. Reaching back, a wet substance graced her fingers, blood. Sakura began to panic; there was no way she would go to the hospital!

'Oh my god! No, this isn't happening. If I go to the hospital they will know what happened, and if they don't know what happened they will ask. If they ask, and I lie, they will know. If they know then they will tell. If they tell...Oh god!'

Sakura began to have a panic attack. Her breathing became harsh, and raspy. It was worse due to the fact that she was sure that some ribs were bruised if not broken. She sprinted to the toilet, not that it was much of a run, about two steps. Facing the toilet bowl she began to dry heave. Sakura's stomach had no food in it so nothing was there to be emptied. After sitting on the floor, wondering what she was going to do about her head, as the bleeding had not stopped yet. Her hand graced a small slip of paper.

* * *

_'Wake me up inside. Wake me up inside. Call my name and save me from the da--"_

"Hello?" A very groggy voice, that actually sounded very irritated the he had been woken up. There was silence that filled the other end. "Hello?" This time it was awake, and the sound of irritation grew to anger. "Listen if this is a jo--"

"I'm sorry Sasuke, I didn't mean to wake you." Sakura's voice came out shaken, and unsteady. "Never-mind, just go back to sleep. I'm sorry I woke you."

It took a minute for Sasuke to realize who it was. "Oh, Sakura. I'm sorry I didn't know it was you. What's wrong?" Sasuke knew there was something wrong he could here it in her voice.

"Oh, um, well I was wondering... You know what? Never mind"

"No. What is it?"

"Um... well. I was taking a walk last night. OK it wasn't last night it was about an hour ago, and I kind of got mugged. I don't want to go to the hospital. Don't ask why. I just don't want to go." Sakura's mind was racing. 'I hope he bought that lie.'

"What? Are you OK?" Sasuke was jumping out of bed. He grabbed a pair of sweatpants, and a tank top. Snatching up his keys he ran for the door. He was in his car before he got his reply.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I just have this cut on my head, and I can't see it. Well I know it's bleeding but that's it I don't know anything else."

"Oh. Why don't you get Jin to look at it?" Sasuke knew that it was stupid to say that, partially because he suspected Jin of doing this in the first place. He could almost feel Sakura cringe on the other end.

"N-n-n-no!" Sakura panicked before realizing that she needed to calm down so she wouldn't have another attack. "Me and him aren't on good terms right now. You know, after the fight we had after you left."

"Oh. Ok. Well, why don't you lay down in your room?" Sasuke was going to come over and surprise her. He was surprised that she didn't here the car start, or the door slam on her end of the phone.

"Alright, Sasuke. I think that would be the best thing right now anyways." Sakura wanted to talk to him longer, but he did have school tomorrow. So did she, but the way she looked it wasn't possible for her to go and not have a few eyebrows rise.

Hanging up the phone, Sakura made her way to her bedroom to lie down. She had gotten a towel to put around her head so that the blood did not soak her sheets. Five minutes later, her eyes began to close, weather it be from blood loss or lack of sleep Sakura didn't know, and didn't care. 'I hope I never wake up to this ever again.'

* * *

Darkness filled the room. The only thing that remained seen was a faint glow coming from the corner. Deep green eyes searched for something, anything that would tell them where they were. "Gaara." His ears knew that voice. It came out soft, and barely noticeable, but it was still heard. "Gaara." There it was again. Gaara walked toward the place where he thought the voice was coming from. The faint glows became brighter and deeper in color. He could barely make out the color as he walked toward the voice.

"Gaara. Why?"

'Why? Why what?' Gaara could not comprehend the words that were being spoken to him.

"Why?" This was all he could make out; anything else that was spoken came out muffled.

Gaara walked closer, the voice was coming from the same spot as the crimson glow. He hesitated, not knowing if he really wanted to go any farther. Squinting his eyes he made out two figures. One seemed so full of light; the other was dark, almost dead. He was not a curious person, but that voice, he knew that he had to make sure. The dark figure slowly walked away.

"Wait! You never answered me." The voice came out stronger then before, and he knew. That was Neji's voice. He was sure of it this time. The dark figure slowly continued his walk, never turning back. Gaara's curiosity took over.

'Neji, there is something wrong with him.' His voice came out pained and weak when Gaara heard him speak. He walked a little bit faster. There in front of him was a sight that Gaara never wanted to be real. Neji was lying there in front of him, crimson liquid staining his already pale skin. His cloths were ripped and torn from his body, leaving him in just a pair of tattered pants. Blood had stained his entire being. Gaara could not look at this sight and turned away.

"Gaara." He looked back at the figure, but could not bring himself to meet those light eyes. "Why?"

His eyes shot up to meet the pale, almost lifeless eyes that were trying to look at him. Neji's eyes could no longer focus on the outside world from what Gaara could tell, but he tried in vain to make out the redhead, squinting to make him come into view. Gaara knelt beside him; he was mumbling something that couldn't be made out.

There he sat in a pool of his beloved's blood bringing his ear to Neji's lips. With his hand around Gaara's neck to support him he spoke. "Why? Why did you kill me?"

Gaara pulled back at this statement and took in the full concept that was going on. Neji was lying there, broken and on the verge of his last few breathes. 'I did this? How could I have done this?' Gaara was so lost in his own thoughts he almost missed the brunette's last words. "I loved you." Neji drifted off into his everlasting slumber, never to wake.

Gaara shot up out of his bed. "Why? Why do I keep having that dream" Gaara didn't want to think that his dream was part of his past. Now he was not one to be superstitious or anything like that, and he knew that there was no way he would literally kill Neji. There was something in the back of his head that said that he would hurt him, and Gaara just couldn't stand to see that boy hurt.

Beneath his stoic frame lay turmoil beyond anyone's comprehension. Not even Neji knew what went on in that boys head all the time. It was true he had gotten a look into Gaara's darker side a few times. It was a rare occasion that it was seen just for the simple fact that he was finally starting to feel something other then anger, and paranoia with Neji at his side. Gaara really didn't want to mess it up. The voices that were there from time to time never came when Neji was around.

_'That's because we don't like him.' _

Now Gaara was extremely tired, and began to look around the room for the people that spoke to him. "Huh?"

_'We don't like Neji. The little brunette is bad for us.'_

'What do you mean "us"? This didn't seem to strange, as Gaara had been used to the voices carrying on conversations in his head.

_'Neji chases us away. We don't like to go away, it makes us mad.'_

"Hn." Gaara got up out of bed. The voices seemed to have stopped. He made his way to the kitchen to get a glass of water. Gaara sat down at the table sipping his glass of water, and thinking. He really didn't know why he kept having that dream. He would sit there and analyze it every time he woke up, but never really getting anywhere with it. Something was preventing him from figuring it out.

He sighed and figured that he would drop his thoughts for now, but subconsciously he continued his analysis. Back in his room, he did the only thing that seemed to bring him peace of mind. Out came his notebook and headphones. He turned on a small light, and began to write the words that flowed from him.

_Take away the sensation_

_Inside my bittersweet migraine in my head_

_It's like a throbbing toothache of the mind,_

_I can't take this feeling anymore_

_Drain the pressure from the swelling_

_This sensation's over whelming_

_Give me a long kiss goodnight_

_And tell me everything will be all right_

_Tell me that I won't feel a thing_

_Give me Novocain_

_Out of body and out of mind_

_Kiss the demons out of my dreams_

_I get the funny feeling and that's all right_

_Drain the pressure from the swelling_

_This sensation's over whelming_

_Give me a long kiss goodnight_

_And everything will be all right_

_Tell me Neji I won't feel a thing_

It amazed him how fast words would come into his head. It had been about twenty minutes and he had already written a whole song. He re-read his words, but he stopped at the last line... he really didn't remember writing Neji's name in the song. Gaara mentally cursed himself. He made a vow that he would never change any words that had been written for the simple fact that his raw feelings came out when he wrote. He did not let them come out on purpose, but subconsciously they would spring to life on the page. He sat there a few more minutes before turning the page, but nothing else would come to him. Gaara closed his book and took out some scratch paper to draw on. He wasn't the best artist, but sometimes he got some really got work done. Tonight was not that night however; it was a night for random doodles with the pen.

* * *

A hand slowly grazed her cheek. It was warm and so inviting that she automatically leaned into the touch. Her eyes shot open remembering that the only people that lived here where her, and Jin. However, she was not looking into eyes of fire, but soft black ones.

Sakura sat up rather suddenly, forgetting all the pain, but that lasted for a mere second before she collapsed holding her ribs. Willing the tears in her eyes to recede she looked again at the blackness that consumed her.

"What are you doing here?" She was whispering to her new intruder.

"Well when I got your call I came here because I was concerned. I saw his eyes when I dropped you off. I know he did this to you, so save your lies for someone else." Sasuke spoke calmly at first, but his voice began to rise with anger resonating deeply.

Sakura shrunk back at his tone. He was not mad at her for lying, just mad at what Jin had done to her. Sasuke didn't have many feelings, but looking at her was worse the he had ever seem someone beaten. Her face was swollen and almost unrecognizable. Her whole midsection had the looks of a morbid painting, blue, black, and purple, mixing with the pale flesh tone that was her skin. This thought almost made him blush, he had to pull up her shirt so that he could look at all the damage.

"...Oh. I'm sorry." then it dawned on her, he knew. That meant he was going to tell someone. "Sasuke! Please, don't tell anyone! I don't want anyone to know. If anybody finds out then I will leave, and I can't. I just got to have Hinata, the only person I can count on, back in my life. Please, I can't lose her. Please," she began to sob.

Sasuke got angry at first. 'How could she be so dumb?'

Sakura noticed this look, and knew that she had to continue. "Jin is a very powerful man. He just pays off everyone to get his way. He will do the same thing he did in Tokyo." She took a deep breath, and succumbed to the pain in her ribs once again. "When the neighbors got suspicious they called the police. All Jin did was say he didn't know what they were talking about, and if they let him go they would be rewarded for there understanding. He owns half the fucking police, and the other half knew better then to fuck with him."

Sasuke understood somewhat, but she continued on. "If the police come here to ask questions then he will pay them off. I'm sure he is already on his way to owning everyone in this town." She closed her eyes wishing it would all go away. She hated it when people saw her cry; this made her think that she was weak.

"Alright. You know I really don't want to keep this quiet, but I guess I can respect that." Sasuke really didn't like that, but he knew that she was unstable now. He knew if he tore her away from her one savior she would probably not live long after that. He did decide something, he was going to protect her, and be there for her when he could be. Sakura's emerald eyes lit up, and became ten times brighter.

"Thank-you, Sasuke" She threw herself at him and forgot all of her pain. Sasuke didn't really know what to do. Normally in this situation he would pry the girl off of him, but right now that wouldn't work. So he sat there and wrapped his arms around her neck to return the embrace. Just then the warm liquid graced his hand. Pulling Sakura back he looked at his hands. Sure enough, crimson decorated his creamy skin.

"Sakura, I think we need to fix this. Can you lay down for me?" She nodded in agreement, and lay down on her stomach. Sasuke straddled her backside being careful to not put his weight on her bruised body. , Pushing Sakura's hair to the sides, Sasuke inspected the wound. He was shocked it ran two inches long. It started from the beginning of her hairline to about the middle of her head. "... Um, I think this is going to need to be stitched." Sakura flipped over to face him.

"No! We can't do that! Please, Sasuke, just fix it!" Not really noticing her position, or the pain anymore, Sakura was concentrating on the fear. He let out a long sigh.

"I can do it. I learned how to if you couldn't get to a hospital." Sakura relaxed at this thought, and turned around to resume her previous position "But I'm going to cut some of your hair." He could feel her tense up just a little. "Don't worry. No one will know, it won't be seen.

"Kay." Sakura had calmed down substantially since Sasuke had arrived. "Oh what do you need? I will go get it."

"...Um... Athletic tape, scissors, a wash cloth, and soap and water." Sakura pushed up slightly. Doing this made both of them remember how they were sitting in the first place. "Sorry." Sasuke blushed a little as he climbed off of hr and sat on the bed.

SASUKE POV

I don't understand you at all. I finally know your past, but it just doesn't make any sense. How am I able to read into you so well? No one else seems to notice the underlying actions in you movement. I don't know how I can help you. I don't even know why I care. I have never cared about anyone, or at least let it show. I mean I do care about my friends, but you are different. I have known you for a day, but still here I am at four o'clock in the fucking morning helping you. Why am I helping you? This is so stupid, I'm here helping you try and hide what your "family" has done. I can't stand it! No one really deserves this, especially not you.

I lie down on your bed and wait for you to return. I can smell your tears on the pillows. How many times have you cried? I am beyond crying now. My parents, both of them are gone. I have no one. I do live with my brother, but he speaks to me only when the occasion calls for it.

I can hear the water run, and you should be returning soon. There is only one thing that I can conclude: I am going to be your friend, and protect you when I can. If you ever need anything, I'll be here.

You finally return carrying a small bowl and other supplies for me. All right, if I can help in this way, I will do my best. I get up, allowing you to lie down again. I take my previous spot across your lower back. It's really awkward, but it's the best way to do this.

I push the hair aside to look at the cut once again. It is still bleeding, but the blood has caked and matted itself in your hair. I dip the washcloth in the warm water, and begin to wipe around the wound to rid it of excess blood.

Next, I must cut your hair. I know you don't want me to, but it wont close if you hair is in the way. I take just what I need, and pull your hair back to make sure it will go unnoticed. I am happy with the results.

Rubbing the wet washcloth on the bar of soap, I begin to clean. This way we can avoid an infection. You muffle a gasp as the bitter substance slides into the gash. I feel the need to comfort you. "Sorry" I leaned forward and whisper this into you ear. It seems to work, and you try and hide whatever other pain you feel. After it is clean, I fan it so that it will dry quicker. Cutting a few small pieces of tape, I place them across your head, pulling the gash closed so it will begin to heal.

I pull your hair back down, and I am satisfied. You can't even tell what happened. "Congratulations. It wasn't as bad as I thought, and you can't even tell where I fixed it. You turn around to look at me; you're smiling, actually smiling about this. You sit up with some difficulty, and pull me toward you. "Thank-you" Those words whispered in my ear give me chills. You let go, and I try to get up so that I may return home.

"Don't."

NORMAL POV

"Don't," Sakura almost pleaded to him. "Can you stay here for a little while? I just don't want to be alone right now." Sasuke looked a little agitated, but agreed to stay. "I'll set the alarm so you can leave, in case we both fall asleep." Sasuke nodded and sat down beside the bed.

Sakura got up from her bed and hobbled toward the radio. "I'm sorry, but it's hard to me to sleep without any music."

"It's ok." Sasuke actually didn't mind a little music right now. It would help him relax as well.

Soft music came from the speakers. Sasuke knew the song it was one of his favorites. He began to sing along with the words. "What I really meant to say is I'm sorry for the way I am. I never meant to be so cold."

Sakura could help but giggle. This brought Sasuke back to where he was. He had forgotten that he was in her room.

"Sasuke. My bed is really big. You can lay down if you want." Sakura really didn't mean for it to come out the way it did. Catching herself she added, "I have extra blankets. If you want to lie down."

Sasuke got up and made his way toward the bed. He lay down next to her, and closed his eyes. Soon he felt warmth take over his body, Sakura had pulled a blanket on him. "Can you keep singing? It sounds really good." He cracked his eye open, and there she was smiling at him, waiting for his answer. So he continued.

* * *

The alarm went off, and Sasuke was jolted out of bed. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was already seven. Jumping out of the bed, he looked to see where he was.

'This is not my room, and that's not my bed. Oh...shit! Who is that?' Just then, pink hair peeked out of the blanket. He relaxed. Everything from last night came back to him. Just then he remembered he would have to check to make sure the bleeding stopped.

"Sakura. I need you to wake up." He shook her until she started to stir. Gasping as she sat up, it looked as though she might have seen a ghost. Her eyes settled on his pools of darkness. Instantly, she relaxed.

"Oh... It's just you. Well, as you can see I'm not going to school today." Sasuke just shook his head. He had known that last night, but looking at her now it was so obvious. He face wasn't as swollen as it was last night, but the only color that remained on her face was a sickening shade of purple. He nodded to her words just so she would know that he heard.

"Lay down. I need to make sure the bleeding has stopped." Sakura complied with his request and lay on her stomach. Sasuke checked his work and it seemed to him that it would work just fine.

"Alright I'm going to leave now. Call me if you need anything." She smiled and said her thanks. It had to be about the fiftieth time he had heard it since last night.

"Oh, Sakura," he called to her before jumping out her window, "I am going to have to re do that bandage everyday after you take a shower. They don't stick really well when they are wet."

"Oh. Well would I be able to come to your house?"

"Yeah. That would be fine." Sasuke really didn't want her to come over. He didn't like people in his house, but he knew that he was not going to be able to make four in the morning visits everyday. Sakura noticed the hesitation in his voice.

"It will just be tonight. Tomorrow Jin is leaving to go out of town for a while. Then you could come over after school." She added this on, hoping to appease him.

"Ok."

"Oh, and Sasuke." She stopped him right before he jumped out the window. "Can you call Hinata and tell her that I am not well, so I wont need a ride." He gave a slight nod before he left.

Sakura waited until she knew he was gone and got out of bed to dress. She wasn't going to school, but she wasn't allowed to miss school. So she was going to go somewhere until Jin had left for work. She carefully ran a brush through her hair, and put on a pair of black stocking. Sakura walked to her closet and found a pair of red cut-offs and put on a plain white tank top.

Once again she donned her glasses and black gloves. After brushing her teeth. She grabbed her books and left. She paused by the door to put on a pair of black and red converse.

"Wait. Where are you going off to?" Sakura knew she wasn't going to get out of there with out him seeing her.

"Oh, I was just on my way to school. You know I do have class today." Sakura's attitude slightly flared toward the end.

"Looking like that?"

'Well, hell it's _your_ fault I look like this, and now your worried about it?'

"What the hell are you wearing? You look like a two-bit whore. I bet you are going to see that guy you met yesterday!" Jin's face matched his eyes in redness. This made his blond hair stand out even more.

'He doesn't even care how I look? Well he does, but just the cloths. My face looks like I got hit by a truck, and all he's worried about is me looking like a hooker? I wouldn't expect anything less.'

"Yes Jin. This is what I'm wearing, and no I am not going to see Sasuke today. Me and him do not have the same classes."

"Sasuke, as in Uchiha Sasuke? As in his older brother Itachi?"

"I think that is his last name, but I'm not sure, and he does have an older brother, but I don't know his name. Why the hell do you care anyways?" Sakura really wanted to know, and what made it worse was the look in his eyes. She knew that couldn't have meant anything good.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Hun. Now off to school you go."

Without another word, Sakura hauled herself out the door. You didn't have to tell her twice. She walked to a park that was not that far from her house, and took a seat on the bench. Out came a pair of headphones, as they cut on rock music blared from the mini speakers. The noise was muffled as they were placed on her head.

'This is the best part of life.' She closed her eyes and let the music take her soul.

* * *

Temari awoke to go downstairs. She really was not a morning person, but awoke with the sun because of work. She really wished work would start later. Temari was pulled out of her musings by a patch of red lying on the kitchen table.

"Gaara." Temari shook her younger brother awake. He stirred a little bit so she continued with her statement. "What are you doing down here? It's six o'clock in the morning." The younger boy could do nothing but glare at her, and it was made half-hearted at that. He just wasn't in the mood.

"What's wrong?" Temari sighed. She knew what was plaguing her little brother, but she really couldn't help him. This was something that he was going to have to do on his own.

"Nothing... Nothing is wrong with me," he grumbled under his breath before pushing himself up from the table. A soft hand found its way on his shoulder.

"You know, Gaara, if you got back with him it would make both of you happy. We are not in Suna any more. Things could be different this time... Yeah?" Gaara couldn't help but tense up when Suna was mentioned.

"You don't know that Temari. Things could be exactly the same. I can't let that happen. Or did you forget that's why I'm like this? That reason is why I had to leave for a while, and that is the ultimate reason for why we are here."

She sighed. Her little brother was right, but it wasn't his fault. He had been unstable before all of that stuff happened. That was just the incident that broke him. It really wasn't Gaara's fault. Both her and Kankurou knew he blamed himself for them having to move. The truth was that nether one of his siblings minded the move, and was actually happy to get away from Suna, and everything it stood for.

They always picked on him, and his siblings could not be there twenty-four seven. It was eighth grade before Gaara had actually made a friend. Oashisu, that was her name. Temari remembered this and was instantly angered. That bitch got what she deserved for what she did to Gaara. He was only fourteen, and the way people treated him left him mentally stunted and unstable.

* * *

_Gaara was kneeling over Oashisu. "Why?" He screamed at her almost lifeless body. "Why?" The only thing that was left in the girl's eyes was fear. Gaara had snapped._

_"I-I-I don't know" This was the only reply that she could think of._

_"Oh. My. God. Gaara!" Temari and Kankurou ran to their brother's side._

_"Why?" He had never really heard the reply that was given to him. He just repeated that word until he passed out._

_

* * *

_

_"What happened to him?" Temari asked the doctor. She glanced over at her little brother. He was sitting there talking to himself, still whispering "Why?"_

_"We don't know exactly. We do know that your brother was unstable to begin with. Whatever happened pushed him over the edge." _

_"Where is she?" Kankurou finally spoke up. "I want to know what she did."_

_"Hold on. Gaara has entered a state of emotional disturbance. It is going to take him a lot to get pulled out of it."_

_"Well what should we do?" Temari was on the verge of tears._

_"There is nothing you can do. Gaara is going to need special help for this one. He reached his breaking point, and there is no turning back this time."_

_"Well, will he ever be the same?" Temari couldn't believe this. Her brother never hurt anyone, and was always such a nice kid. She never really got why all the other kids had picked on him. She understood the fact that he didn't have a mother. None of them did, but they never picked on her, or Kankurou. They just seemed to pick on Gaara._

_"I still want to know what happened." Kankurou stated again, looking over at the redhead. He was sitting there, bandages all over his arms. He was rocking back and forth. _

_"Why?"_

_Once again that was all he could say._

_"She is in room 415. She seems fine. A little shaken up, but fine." Before the doctor could finish what he was going to say Temari, and Kankurou were off._

_"What the hell did you do to him?" Temari didn't wait for an answer. "Huh? Answer me, you fucking bitch!"_

_"T-T-Temari. I-I'm s-s-sorry." Oashisu was trembling from the amount of fear that pumped through her body. She was sure that since Gaara had not killed her the other Sabaku siblings would._

_"We want answers, Oashisu." Kankurou's hand placed itself on Temari's shoulder in an attempt to calm her down._

_"Well... Gaara found me." She started to fill the sand siblings in on the pervious events. "You know me and Gaara were friends. Well. What you didn't know was that me and Gaara had been dating for almost six months." _

_Although it was new news to both the Sabaku siblings they where not surprised by this at all. "When he found me I was with Sasori; him and me were together for about two months now, behind Gaara's back. I honestly was trying to find a way to break up with him."_

_"Well a lot of good that fucking did seeing you two together as made him snap. He's too far-gone for any of us to reach now._

_"Wait! I'm not done. Well... when Gaara caught us he froze. He was just standing there, waiting. So I told him the only thing that I could think of."_

_

* * *

_

_"I don't love you. I never did."_

_"What?" Gaara's vision became blurry as the blond put his arm over his girlfriend. "What the hell are you talking about?_

_"Forget it, Pipsqueak." Sasori's menacing voice came through the haze that Gaara slowly found himself in. "She doesn't want you. She hasn't wanted you for a long time."_

_

* * *

_

_That's when Gaara snapped. He flew into a rage. Sasori was able to defend himself, but I couldn't. He went after me screaming "Why?" After he finally beat me down. He took out a knife and started cutting himself, repeating 'why?" That's when you found him, sitting there in a pool of our blood. "_

_"You stupid fucking bitch! I'll kill you! My brother didn't finish the job, but I sure as hell fucking will!" Temari leapt forward to the injured girl in front of her._

_"Tem, chill. That isn't going to solve anything. Gaara needs us right now. Lets go to him." Temari's resolve slowly fell._

_"Alright, but if you ever even look at him again. I will kill you. And that is a promise." With those final words Temari and Kankurou left to tend to their brother._

_

* * *

_

"Gaara you know that shit wasn't your fault! I don't know why you think it is." You know that Kankurou and me where happy to leave Suna. They treated you like shit there anyway. You know Neji is not the same as that- that bitch!" Temari was seething with rage and could not for the life of her put it out. Gaara sighed and walked his way upstairs. He had to get ready for school.

'She is right. Neji is not like her. She was hiding something about her. Neji has been nothing but honest with me.' He never really knew what had happened to Gaara. Just that he had some problems.

As Gaara stepped out of the shower, he looked into the mirror. He began to draw on his eyes. The black against green really made his eyes stand out. At least that's what Neji had always told him.

Taking out some red eyeliner, he retraced his scar. "Love". He never remembered doing it, but Kankurou said he did it after he snapped. Looking at his face in the mirror. He finally decided.

_'Today I'm going to talk to Neji.'_

* * *

Answer to reviewers:

_**Astarigituloh:** I am not to sure about a lemon, I don't know if it will fit... I might do it, but no promises. Oh, and I have something special for Itachi, so don't worry/_

_**Wandering Spirit:** Ok, my views on hip-hop are exactly that. My views! And if you didn't notice, but all the artists you named have been out for a while now. Back to my previous stamen as far as new people coming out... they suck. End of discussion. The basic plot is there now, but I am not done with the development. I plan this story to be kinda long, so it will not be rushed. This really isn't an "action" fic. It's high school... but yes I am going to have some fights break out._

_**Itachisgirl101:** Yes! Jin is a bitch haha. I'm trying to make an OC that everyone hates. I'm not done with his evilness yet._

_**MC: **Thank- ya! Your reviews make me feel good! The story is a work in progress so it wont be finished for a while. But I will try to keep the ch. coming _

_Thank you to the rest of the reviewers. You know I love ya'll_

_**Junsui Kegasu's BETA Notes: **FHDSFDSFSDFJDFHSKFJS! OMIGOD, YOU NEED TO CON- - …wait, this isn't a review…_


	4. Kissing Confusion

Disclaimer: I don't even own my car anymore how am I gonna own Naruto!... WAHHHHHHH!... sniff. Oh well, I still have no takers on Jin. I swear he's good...Just needs some... training...yeah that's it... training...

Warning: Normal warnings do apply. Gaara and Neji YAY! There is some molesting going on in this one...young ones advert your eyes!

* * *

Last time:

'She is right. Neji is not like her. She was hiding something about her. Neji has been nothing but honest with me.' He never really knew what had happened to Gaara. Just that he had some problems.

As Gaara stepped out of the shower, he looked into the mirror. He began to draw on his eyes. The black against green really made his eyes stand out. At least that's what Neji had always told him.

Taking out some red eyeliner, he retraced his scar. "Love". He never remembered doing it, but Kankurou said he did it after he snapped. Looking at his face in the mirror. He finally decided.

_'Today, I'm going to talk to Neji.'_

* * *

Chapter 4: Kissing Confusion

Gaara sat there after first period. The halls had cleared out by now, but he was waiting. He knew that Neji didn't have a first period so he would arrive right before second period started. Neji was nowhere to be seen, however. 'Maybe he is sick and didn't come to class today. No, that's stupid, Neji is never sick, and even if he was, he would still drag his ass to school.'

* * *

_"Neji go home. You look like hell." Gaara was really concerned even though his voice did nothing to betray his cool demeanor. Gaara was really worried. It looked like Neji was going to drop dead at any minute._

_"No." Neji's voice was practically nonexistent. He was sounding more like Hinata's meager whispers then the deep voice that Gaara loved so much. "I can't go home. What if I miss something?"_

_'What the hell is he going to miss? One class assignment that he could finish in about twenty minutes?' Gaara sighed. He knew trying to get the older boy back home and in bed where he belonged was going to be worse then pulling teeth._

_"Neji the school is not going to burn down without your presence. You need to go home and rest."_

_"Fuck you, Ok... Fuck you, and the horse you rode in on." He began stumbling, but he was caught before ever hitting the ground. Looking up, he was staring up at the most wonderful sight imaginable. Gaara was holding him with a tiny smirk on his face. Just then, Neji lost consciousness._

* * *

Gaara had been so worried then. After he got Neji home he found out later that he had a simple flu virus, and nothing more. But still… Gaara let out another sigh and turned around to leave. 

Just then, footsteps came rushing towards him.

**NEJI'S POV**

'Oh my god! I'm late! I am so late it's not even funny! I can't believe that Hinata didn't say anything before she left! Well of course she wouldn't, she knew I didn't have to be up for another hour after she left. But, that still left my uncle. Why didn't he wake me up? Well, shit, after the way I treated him yesterday, if I was him I wouldn't wake me up either.'

I am abruptly stopped from my current rant inside my head. I feel myself fall backwards into one of the more unused hallways. "What the hell?" I was fully ready to physically break somebody down. I was just not in the mood for some overzealous fan girl, or boy to try their hand with me today. I turn around to a sight I didn't think I would see again. Although, I wasn't sure I wanted to see it again honestly.

"Gaara..." My voice seems so weak, so far away. 'Oh god I really didn't need this right now.' What are you doing anyways? You look so scared, well, about as scared as you can look through that act of concealment you have going on. I had been with you a while so reading you is not a problem. There you are staring down at the ground, fighting. You have seemed to find your converse to be quite entertaining at this moment.

_"Neji." _

I can't believe it you spoke to me. I so missed the way you say my name.

_"I'm sorry."_

What? "I'm sorry?" After all that shit you pulled. Okay, so it really wasn't a whole lot of shit, but still. That's what you think will fix it? "I'm sorry"? I can't believe you, but before I can even formulate words together I feel your hand snake around the back of my neck. I am pulled down towards you. I can't think right now. This is happening way to fast. You're kissing me! I missed this so much. You haven't changed at all. You still can't control yourself. The force of you mouth proves it.

"KAWAII!" I snap out of it to look up. At the other end of the hall stands Haku. You really can't help but love him, and right now I was so thankful that he brought me back to reality. It didn't matter that it was unbeknownst to him.

"Oh don't mind me I was just, um... going to the bathroom... yeah that's it... the bathroom." I couldn't help but laugh inwardly. I knew he wasn't going to the bathroom. Him and his man were going to cut class. Well, _he_ was going to cut class. His boyfriend had graduated already. And with that, Haku left to go back down the hall to look for another escape route.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" You look absolutely shocked. "You think after the shit you pulled it is going to be that easy? I don't know what even possessed you to do that. You haven't spoken to me in four months!"

Once again your converse seem to be something of the utmost fascination. I finally calm down, it's not much, but I can talk without screaming. "That's what you think is going to fix it?" You look up at me. I don't know whether or not to be anger or upset. The look on your face is a mix between hopeful, and "well yeah". "That is not how it is going to work Gaara. You can't fix what you did to me with an "I'm sorry" and a kiss. It really just doesn't work that way."

You glance up a little bit more to meet my eyes; you're smiling. What the hell are you smiling for? I don't have to wonder for long. You give me your answer. "Yeah, but you liked it though. So I know you still care for me. I know I still have a chance."

I don't believe you just said that. I stand there. I can't move; I can't do anything. You reach your hand up to my face and run your fingers across my jaw line. "Thanks." Standing on you toes, your lips ghost across my cheek. Without another word, you leave. I still can't move, I just keep replaying you last few words in my head.

_"Yeah, but you liked it though. So I know you still care for me. I know I still have a chance." _

"Oh shit, I'm late!"

**NORMAL POV**

Gaara walked away. He was a little bit defeated, but he still had hope. Although, he really didn't feel like being in school anymore, so he began to walk home. On his way however something caught his eye. It was a leg covered in black stockings, and on the end was a splash of red that Gaara assumed was a shoe. Walking over he peered over the bench.

It was Sakura; well what he thought was Sakura. Her face was badly bruised, but yeah he thought it was the girl he remembered from yesterday. Her eyes where closed behind the black frames of her glasses, but he knew she wasn't sleeping. He could hear what he thought was Evanescence coming from her lips. Well at least this girl had good taste in music. Bending down to get a closer look, emerald eyes shot open, and she jerked up from her sitting position. Of course you can't sit up that far when someone's face is about two inches from you.

CRACK!

"Son of a bitch!" Sakura's head already hurt, and that was not going to help. "What the hell?" She stopped her rant to look for who had dared disturbed her. There, she found it. Sitting on the grass rubbing his head, and muttering curses under his breath sat Gaara. Sakura wanted to tell him off, but thought better of her.

He looked up at her. Convincing him that he was not staring at her, just studying. It had always been a bad habit for Gaara. He always stared at people, trying to study every angle and line on their face. Sakura had noticed this and turned away. Pushing her glasses further up, she hid behind her hair. 'Fuck! I don't need this. I know he's looking at how horrible I look.' However, Gaara did not press the issue. In fact, he did not speak to her at all. He just got up, and walked away.

"Gaara!" She had to stop him, just to make sure. "Gaara wait!"

He stopped and turned around; she was coming towards him at what looked like a feeble attempt at running. It reminded him of those big-breasted girls in scary movies. You know when they are running through the woods, and they fall. He shook that image out of his head. He could not be evil today.

"Gaara...please... don't... tell... any... one." Sakura stood there trying to catch her breath, and wait for the pain to retract back into her chest. He nodded, and walked away. There was no need to ask; they both knew what shouldn't have been spoken of.

Sakura pulled out her cell phone to look at the time. "It's eleven o'clock," She almost screeched. 'How long had I been out here? I must have fallen asleep. Oh, well. Jin should have left for work by now.'

She began to take her short walk home. When she finally reached home, fear automatically stopped her dead in her tracks. The black SUV was still there. 'Fuck. What am I supposed to do now? I can't go back home, and even if I could I cant climb up the tree to normally get into my room.'

She would just have to face the music. There was nowhere else for her to go. One person had already seen her; she couldn't risk another. She was sure Gaara would not say a word; it wasn't that she trusted him not to tell her secret. The look in his eyes said something though. 'It's not my business.' That's what they said to her, and that's why she figured he didn't ask either.

"Jin, I'm home!" She was trying to muster all the courage she could. "I had an early day today, and-"

"Why weren't you in class today?" Jin's voice seethed with rage.

"What?"

"I got a call from your school that said that you did not go to class. Why?"

Sakura was now terrified, but she could not let it show in her voice. "You wanted me to go to school looking the way I do? Don't you know people would ask questions? That's why we had to leave last time, and I don't want to leave again. I like it here!" She had lost it; everything was flowing from her lips with out her thinking. Jin's face went from shocked to absolutely menacing.

"You can't skip school! If people asked questions then _you_ could use that overly enlarged forehead of yours to think of a fucking lie. Isn't that what you did back in Tokyo? You are going to fucking school!"

"No, I don't want to!" She couldn't believe herself. She was screaming at him. However, she caught herself, and lowered her voice. "And you can't make me." Jin's face twisted into something that vaguely resembled the devil. His red eyes pierced right through her soul.

'Shit, I'm in for it now.' And Sakura was right. Jin grabbed her by the arm and flung her onto the couch.

"Now my dear. You have two choices. You A: Go to class like a good girl, or B: You can take your punishment and stay here with me." Jin's hand slowly crept up her shirt. "Now, my dear," His face was mere centimeters away, and his eyes were filled with absolute lust. "What's it going to be? Hmm?"

"I'll go to class." She didn't want to go to school, but she wanted even less to stay home with that thing.

"Aw, no fun for me?" Jin was smarter then this however, and was still going to get a little bit of fun. He closed the distance between their faces, and ran his tongue along her lips. When she opened them to gasp he made his move, dominating her in everyway he could. His hand gripped onto her waist, tearing at her flesh. Sakura couldn't help but whimper a little bit. She could feel the abrasions growing on her hip.

"Stop. Please." She was trying her hardest not to panic. Sakura knew that it would only provoke him to continue. He loved it when females would struggle. Before her mom died, she would here the pleas coming from his room. "Jin, if you don't stop I really will miss school."

"Hn. Like I really care about that right now." Sakura felt a sharp pain on her collarbone. His teeth sunk deeper into her flesh. Sakura couldn't hold it back anymore and cried out in pain. She could feel Jin's smirk. He finally got the reaction he wanted from her. Jin knew that she wasn't broken yet, but he was determined to do it little by little.

And just as soon as it had started, it was over. Kissing her cheek he climbed off of her. "Go upstairs and fix yourself. Then I will take you to school." Sakura did what she was told. Her brain was on autopilot right now. He always did then same thing. He never really had sex with her, but it still didn't stop her from feeling unclean afterwards. Once again, this was just part of life she would have to accept.

Once in her room she looked herself over. She did her best to cover her face with make-up, and did a much better job then she thought. You almost couldn't even tell. Her wardrobe had to be changed, however; her neck was littered with new bruises and that horrendous bite mark. Throwing off her shirt, she settled on a red sleeveless turtleneck, and some black gloves.

"Let's go," she said slipping on her shoes, and walking out the door. Jin climbed into the drivers seat, and started up the car. The drive to school was silent; Sakura really didn't have anything to say to that thing. She always called him a thing. In her opinion he just couldn't be called a man, after what he'd done to her.

Sakura was brought back to reality when his hand started to inch over her thigh. "Stop," she said while pulling her leg out of his reach. When they reached the school, Sakura didn't even wait for the car to stop, but jumped out of the still moving vehicle and made her way to the office.

"I'm sorry I am late. I wasn't feeling well this morning, so I slept in." The secretary looked at her rather annoyed for interrupting whatever it was she was doing. Sakura really didn't care and just wanted to get her note and go to class. The lady scribbled something down on a pad and handed it to her. Sakura thanked the lady and made her way to Government.

'258… All right, lets go face the music.' Sakura entered the room and made her way to the desk. She tried to ignore all the eyes that found there way to her. "Hello Umino-sensei. I am Haruno Sakura. I'm sorry that I am late, but I wasn't feeling that well this morning."

"That's fine Sakura, but please, Iruka-sensei will do just fine." He signed the pass. "Why don't you go take a seat?" Sakura scanned the room, and the only desk that was open was behind the one and only Uchiha Sasuke.

"What brought you to class? I thought that you weren't coming, and honestly I don't think you need to be here either. You should be resting." Sasuke didn't even turn around, but Sakura knew whom he was talking to.

"...Oh...well...yeah... about that." Hearing how uneasy her voice sounded Sasuke turned around to find Sakura her face down wringing her hands. "Well... um... I had to leave so Jin would think that I went to school, but he never went to work. The school called to see why I wasn't in class today, so Jin waited for me to come home."

"Ms. Haruno. Please continue your conversation with Mr. Uchiha after class. I would like to continue teaching."

"Yes sir." She leaned into Sasuke. "I'll tell you the rest after class." He nodded and turned back around. Sakura really didn'tpay attentionthe rest of the class. Well, not that she really needed to. It was the first week of school after all. So, it became the usual. The paperwork, the passing out of books, and the ritual wasn't complete without the signing of the names. Soon class was over and it was time for lunch.

"Sakura. Come with me. I don't want anyone to ask you what's wrong. I had already told Hinata that you were sick, and Neji and her have your work. Well, you know the papers that have to be signed." Sakura followed him upstairs and onto the roof. "Alright now I want to whole story."

"Well... I didn't have anywhere else to go. Gaara had already seen me at the park, and I didn't want to risk anyone else doing the same. So I went back home. Jin was still there so I tried to play it off and just go inside like I was already out of class. He knew I was lying when I came in. He told me to get ready and he was going to take me to school." She shuttered at his other choice that he had given to her. "I asked him how the hell I was supposed to go to class looking like this. Well he really didn't care, and told me to get my ass out the door. And here I am."

"He didn't hurt you did he." He reached his hand up to brush her face. She flinched just a little bit, but relaxed into the touch when she felt his warmth on her face. But reality brought her back.

"N-N-No. He didn't hit me."

"Sakura. That's not what I asked you. Did he hurt you in _any way_?" Sasuke pulled her face up with both of his hands. She looked away trying to avoid his gaze. With this gesture Sasuke got his answer. Sakura found herself in a warm embrace. "I'm sorry, but hey. I'll be here for you. If you ever need anything you know you have got Hinata and me. So don't worry about a thing ok." He could feel her head nod on his shoulder.

"Hey Sasuke. I don't want to be here anymore. Can you take me somewhere?"

"Sure. The only place I can think of where you won't be seen is my house. No one comes there... well Naruto every now and then, but most of them just call."

"Yeah, that's fine. As long as you don't mind." Sasuke actually did mind. He didn't like having anyone in his house, but he knew that Sakura needed a friend, and needed to be somewhere safe. Hopefully, Itachi wouldn't be there.

* * *

Gaara made his way through the doors of his home, and dropped himself down on the couch. "Hey little one. Why are you home so early? Shouldn't you be at school?" 

"Shut it Kankurou. I'm not in the mood." Gaara really didn't want to deal with him right now, but did that ever stop Kankurou from doing anything... of course not. Today would be no different.

"Aw...what's wrong? You seem overly hostile today. Come to think of it, I haven't seen you this pissed off since you broke up with Neji. What'd you do, try to get him back? Ha-ha..." His laughter slowly died out. Boy, if looks could kill Kankurou would be in the seventh layer of hell, and burnt ten times over. "Hey, sorry man. I was just trying to lighten the mood." He had thrown his hands up in defense, and slowly backed away.

"Look," Gaara sighed. "Really, can you just leave me alone right now? I don't want to be lightened up. Ok?"

"Whatever you say, Gaara." Kankurou walked away from him. "But if you do wanna talk, you can come to me, or Temari. You know that, right? We care about you and don't want to see any repeats of Suna." Looking towards his brother he could see him stiffen at the motion of their former home.

"Yeah, Kank. I know. Maybe later. Ok?"

"Sure, Gaara. Whenever." Although it wasn't much of a conversation Gaara was pleased that it had taken place. It wasn't that him and his siblings didn't have a good relationship. They just never really knew how to voice how they felt. So, the few awkward moments that they did share were precious. It was probably their dad's fault.

'May he burn in hell' Gaara thought as he walked upstairs to his room. Music, that's what he needed right now. Music always helped.

Up in his room he put in 'Garbage.' He couldn't help but laugh at his music choice for the evening, but angsty females would do him good at this moment. He just kept replaying the scene in his head. Why had he kissed him? Gaara was never that forward in any aspect. Even in the relationship, Neji had always been the one to initiate everything. He just couldn't take it anymore. He was so close to him. He hadn't spoken, let alone touched him in four months. He just needed it. It truly felt so right, and even if Neji did break the kiss, he had kissed back. Didn't he?

'Oh, yeah, he most definitely kissed back.' Gaara had gotten some satisfaction, but in the end was left defeated. He didn't know what exactly was going to happen, and it had turned out better then it could have. At least Gaara knew that he still had feelings for him. He was just too hurt to give into them right now. Oh well; there is always tomorrow.

* * *

Sasuke pulled up to his home. 'This house is a fucking palace.' Sakura stood there in awe. It wasn't like she was poor. Actually it was quiet the opposite, but still, this was amazing. 

"Sakura, are you coming, or are you just going to stare at the outside?" Snapping out of the trance, she glared at the boy. He only smirked in return. "Come on. The inside is twenty times better." Dropping the glare, as seeing it had no effect on him whatsoever she followed him inside.

Both took off their shoes and made their way upstairs. "Sorry if you're uncomfortable being in my room, but it's the only place I can stand to be in this house."

"No Sasuke your room is fine with me. Just don't try anything stupid." Sakura waved her finger at him. He couldn't help but laugh at her.

"Oh, don't worry Sakura dear, I won't," Sasuke smirked as he got up from his bed and slowly walked over towards her.

"Sasuke. What are you doing? Why are you looking at me like that? Stop." She looked down at the floor. She didn't know what his true intentions were at this moment. Was he serious, or just playing. When she glanced up at him, he was just an inch away. Even though their proximity was so close, Sakura relaxed. That look in his eyes, it heldno signs oflust,just caring. Sasuke felt bad; he hadn't meant to scare her. He was only playing. So, he instead tried to calm her down.

"Come on Sakura, do you really think I would hurt you?"

"Honestly, Sasuke? I don't know. The truth is, I don't know you that well. And my experience with guys have not been ones of pleasant involvement." Sasuke looked a little disappointed, but he fully understood.

'Wait a minute, She said guys as in guy with an 'S' at the end. Meaning more then one. Well, I guess she will tell me the rest of her life another day. I just want to keep her happy right now.'

"Hey, Look. I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to scare you. I was just playing." He still hadn't moved from where he was, and instead opted for holding her head in his hands. Sakura's eyes softened just a little bit. She knew he was sincere. In her life, she had seen the lies people held in their eyes and learned to read past it. She could see the truth behind the lies, and Sasuke was being honest with her.

"Yeah Sasuke. I believe you." She couldn't resist. Taking his face and bending it down she placed a small kiss on his forehead. He looked up at her. Total shock was spread across his face. "Thanks." It was barely a whisper beside his ear, but he still heard it.

The rest of the day was spent in his room. Neither one really spoke much, but instead settled for listening to random songs that came on the radio. The trance both of them seamed to find themselves in was broken by a knock at the door. Sasuke instantly shot up glaring through the door at the person on the other side.

"What?" He barked. Sakura thought for a second she was going to have to strap him down.

'Oh. Sasuke. Strapped down on a bed. We like that, don't we?' Sakura shook her head. This was not the time for her to go completely hentai. However, nothing was heard from the other side.

"What?" It came out louder and more irritated then the first time. Once again no voice answered the question. Sasuke was about to lay back down when the door creaked open.

"Sasuke." Sakura couldn't believe it. There were two Sasuke's. She couldn't do anything but stare back and forth. Her imagination was quickly halted.

"What do you want? Why the hell are you coming to bother me?"

"Hn. Little brother, why are you so hostile to me? I'm your only family, and yet you shun me away." Itachi had put his hand on his chest and feigned being hurt.

"Yeah right. You really care if I like you or not?"

"No. I don't. I was coming to tell you that I have to leave for the Company. I will be back in about a month."

"Well, I don't really care. I'll be glad to get you out of here." She could almost hear the relief in Sasuke's voice when he spoke now.

"Well that makes two of us, now don't it?" Itachi turned around to walk out, but a bit of pink caught his eye. "Now Sasuke, how come I have not been introduced to your guest?" Sakura sat up and found Sasuke willing his brother into the pits of hell with his glare. Itachi did not even wait for an answer. "Now, who might you be?"

"M-my name i-is H-H-Haruno S-S-Sakura." She could have sworn for a minute that something flickered in those eyes of his.

"Haruno? Hummm... Well Ms. Haruno you will take good care of my baby brother won't you?"

"Hai. I will." Sasuke couldn't take it anymore.

"Sakura, Itachi doesn't deserve an answer from you. Ignore him." At this last statement Itachi laughed, and walked out the room, shutting the door behind him. Sakura really wanted to say something to him, but she couldn't. She was too afraid that he was going to snap at the littlest bit of noise. She instead settled for lying back down on his bed.

'What the hell? Why does he always do that? I hate him. I swear, I really do. He just can't leave me alone can he? Why couldn't he have just died with them? Why is he left to take care of me? I can't stand it.' With that last thought Sasuke threw himself on the bed. This inadvertently threw him onto Sakura.

"Sasuke! That hurt!"

"Sorry." Well at least that's what Sakura had thought she made out. She really couldn't tell, because his face was buried into her shoulder. Honestly she couldn't do much of anything but hold onto him. There was no need for words between them. So they stayed like that. Sakura laying down on the bed, and Sasuke draped over her. She could feel his breath on her neck, and could tell that he had calmed down from earlier. Their peace was once again disturbed.

_"I hate everything about you…"_

She sighed. "I'm sorry Sasuke, but I'm going to have to go. That would be Jin calling right now." Sasuke got up reluctantly. He was very content lying in her arms. She smelled so good.

"Hello? Yes Jin, I'm on my way home...I should be there soon... About five minutes... All right... Bye.

"Alright, but at least let me give you a ride."

"I don't think that would be a good idea. I don't want a repeat of last night."

"Yeah... I guess you are right. I'll give you a ride almost to your house then. Deal?"

She couldn't help but smile at him. "Deal. Now let's get goin'."

* * *

Sasuke had dropped her off a block before her house. He had to remind her that he would be over there later so that he could change her bandage. She told him that she would call him when it was ok to come over. 

Back in her room, Sakura found all of her papers from the classes that she missed today. 'Hinata must have brought them over.' She read the papers and forged signatures where they were needed, and put them into her bag. Jin was pretty much going to leave her alone today, because he had to get ready for his trip tomorrow. This was what she was thankful for. She couldn't wait to have him out of her hair, at least temporarily. That was a start.

"Sakura! Bring your ass down here now!"

'What the hell did I do now? He already "punished" me for earlier. What more could he want from me?' She put on her best innocent look.

"Yes Jin?"

"What the hell is this?" Sakura was confused. Jin didn't seem to be pointing at anything in particular.

"What are you talking about Jin?

"That right there!" Sakura then knew what she he was talking about. It was Sasuke's phone number.

'Shit. Must think of a lie... and quick!' "Oh, that would be Hinata's new cell phone number. She did come by today didn't she? It probably fell out of the papers she brought over here."

"How did you know she came over?"

"Oh, well I saw all the paperwork from the classes I missed in my room. So, I just assumed. " Jin seemed pleased with her answer, and waved her off back to her room.

'I can't believe he fell for that! Let's just put this away shall we?' She hid the number in her make-up drawer. She was going to need it later.

* * *

"Neji, I'm really worried about Sakura. She would never miss school because she was sick." Hinata sat there with her cousin, and Naruto. 

"Don't worry Hinata. Sakura-chan will be fine." Naruto gave her one of his best smiles, but this did little to ease Hinata's fear.

"But Jin wouldn't even let me see her. He just took the papers from me and left."

Naruto didn't know what to say to this. He sat there for a while trying to come up with something more then "Well...".

"Well, Hinata, if you really are that worried then why don't you call her? And then you could see if she is alright." Neji was really tired of his cousin at this moment. He really wanted both of them to leave his presence at this moment. He was pretty much in his own little world. Gaara had kissed him! "Oh would you two mind leaving? I have a lot of homework to do."

"Sure thing. Come on Hinata lets go down stairs and call Sakura-chan."

**NEJI'S POV**

Why did you do that? You actually kissed me. You never kissed me before. You were always too shy, and waited for me to do anything. Today you were different though. Your eyes… It wasn't the cold one that I got used to after the break up. It was what was always underneath, hidden deep in your soul. Only I could see that look, and today you showed it to me again. Do you really want me back? Can I really take you back? I don't want to be hurt again. I really don't think I could take that heartache again. Maybe I will call you later, but probably not. I still don't know what to do about you.

I think I am going to sleep on it. That would be the best thing that I could do right now. Right?

* * *

Sakura had just gotten off the phone with Hinata. She told her that everything was fine, and she was just having a really bad headache. That wasn't a total lie. Sakura really did have a headache. It just wasn't a random one like she told Hinata. Jin had just gone to bed about an hour ago. 

'Alright it's time to call Sasuke.'

"Hello?"

"Hey it's me. I'm going to get into the shower right now. I will leave my window open. You can just climb threw like you did last night."

"Alright I will see you soon.

With that Sakura hung up the phone and got into the shower. It was pretty hard to wash her hair, so she did the best she could. The tape was coming out, however. 'Well he did say it wasn't going to stay when it got wet.'

Sakura finished her shower as quick as she could. She stepped out, dried off, and put on a pair of black shorts, and a white t-shirt. Once back in her room she laid on the bed and waited. She was almost asleep when she felt the weight change on her mattress. She waited until his foot was right by her hand. The way he was acting seemed like he was trying to keep from waking her.

"Sak--" She grabbed his ankle and pulled it out from underneath him. "What the hell?" He looked up and saw her looking at him, smiling.

"Hi! Did you think I was sleeping?" Sasuke couldn't help it, but he laughed, just a little.

"Yeah I did. Let's get this done with, shall we?" Sakura nodded and took her place on the bed. She had already gotten the things he would need to clean and redress her wound. It took a lot less time, and didn't hurt nearly as bad as the first time.

"Alright. We are done." Sasuke said, climbing off of her. Sakura truly was grateful for him right now. He was normally so cold from what Hinata said about him, but the way he was acting was completely different from what she had thought. "So will you be going to school tomorrow?"

"Yeah. I'll be there. See you in Gai's class" Sasuke nodded. He was about to leave when,

"Sasuke."

He turned around. "Thanks again. I really do appreciate this"

"Hey don't worry. If you ever need anything, I'm here. I told you that already. Alright?"

"Yeah." And with that, he was gone. Sakura had to get some sleep anyways. Tomorrow was going to be her first day with Jin gone. She hoped he would stay gone for a long time.

* * *

_**MC:** Well as you can see Neji is being a bastard right now...he turned down poor Gaara. That development is gonno be ongoing and it might take a while. About Jin well he's going away so he wont be raped by wild pig monkey men anytime soon. _

_**Itachisgirl101:**Well they made fun of him for a reason, but that will be given later on. probly soon. I find myself leaving too many plot holes open so gotta answer them sometime._

_**badtz: **I don't know yet. I wanna do one, but I'm not sure if i can._

_**KagomeHigarashi:** So you THINK you know, but in fact you may have no idea muhahaha. I am a sneaky little bitch._

_**Kagomeyuki:** I am sorry to hear about that. I hope you do enjoy this story though. I did get most of this from past events in my life. So i know where your coming from._

_**sasukefurever:** I think there is a word missing from your review. What would you do to Jin? Choke? Stab? Kill? Well they all sound like good things to me._

_**JK:** My lovely BETA. where would I be without you? Somewhere with a story that has no grammer and horrible spelling. I hope this helped you a little. There is going to be more bastarization too. Just WAIT! muhahahaha_

_**Shinobi Darkbeak, astarigituloh, mfpeach:** Much thank yous for the reviews. I am happy that you like this._

Junsui Kegasu's BETA Notes: …Neji ish a bastard from my POV. I think that's a good thing for me. (goes back to Haunted) Inspire me, my baby!

A/N: There ya go it's another chapter. I hope you like it. I had to go through hell to write this. Most of this was done during some rough nights. So please enjoy. Don't forget to R&R. I re-read them when I am at a loss and don't want to write.


	5. The Flipside of Revelations

Disclaimer: I don't own... and will probably never own Naruto. If I did I wouldn't be writing this. I would be making Naruto episodes instead.

Warning: The usual apply. This is an AU fic, so yes there will be OOCness in it. Oh yes some more molestation, and some self abuse in this chapter. My pairings are not going to change for the most part. I will NOT Take out the Neji and Gaara pairing. I like it, and am having a lot of fun with it. So don't ask!

A/N: Yay! I love the reviews. I am finally getting more. That makes me so happy! (Sparkly eyes) Oh yes. I cannot forget to thank my incredible BETA reader. Her suggestions, and editing have been a big help! Oh yes on to the story

0

Last time:

"Alright. We are done," Sasuke said, climbing off of her. Sakura truly was grateful for him right now. He was normally so cold from what Hinata said about him, but the way he was acting was completely different from what she had thought. "So, will you be going to school tomorrow?"

"Yeah. I'll be there. See you in Gai's class." Sasuke nodded. He was about to leave when,

"Sasuke."

He turned around. "Thanks again. I really do appreciate this"

"Hey, don't worry. If you ever need anything, I'm here. I told you that already. Alright?"

"Yeah." And with that, he was gone. Sakura had to get some sleep anyways. Tomorrow was going to be her first day with Jin gone. She hoped he would stay gone for a long time.

0

Chapter 5: The flip-side of Revelations

Sakura woke up in the best of moods. 'Today, Jin will be gone for at least a month!' was the first thought that graced her brain this morning. She couldn't wait until after he left. She would be able to heal a little bit at least, and also be able to have friends over.

She really missed Hinata and was unable to see her much at all. It had only been two days that she lived here, but she hadn't seen her friend in three years. They had only exchanged conversations. Then there was Sasuke. She had actually taken a liking to this boy. As much as she hated to admit it, she had taken a _strong _liking to him. She had to fight her feelings. She didn't know why, but something told her it was for the best not to get involved with him.

She finally realized that she was in a daze just standing there in the middle of her room. Snapping out of it, she made her way to the shower. She wasn't going to be able to get her hair wet. This proved to be a challenge, as she normally would just lean on the wall with the water running over her. She somehow managed to fight the urge to do so, and quickly got out before it got the better of her.

Once back in her room, Sakura rummaged through her closet to find something to wear. She felt like being extra pretty today. She grabbed a pair of black shorts with many chains hanging from the waist. Then, she found her red fishnet top and put that on under a black tube top. Finally, she found a pair of black and red knee socks to complete her outfit. By the door sat a pair of black heels. 'Now onto the hair and make-up…'

Sakura couldn't have been more pleased with the way she turned out. For one reason or another, she was in a red mood. Her thick black eyeliner was accented with red on the outside. On her lips was blood red lipstick, complete with gloss. She mused on how her lips looked like they were really dripping blood. She had straightened her hair and pulled the right part over her eye. The bruise was still there, so she had to hide it.

_BEEP... BEEP..._

'Right on time; Hinata's here.'

"Alright, Jin I'm leaving. Have fun on your trip!" She could not hide the enthusiasm in her voice.

"Oh? And where do you think you are going?" Jin stood in front of the door, blocking Sakura's only escape route.

'Fuck.' She put on her best smile. She knew that she was going to have to sweet-talk her way out the door. "You know I have to go to school today, and Hinata just got here, so I'm leaving for the day."

"But your daddy is leaving for a long time. Don't you want to say good-bye?"

'Not particularly, but I don't think I have a choice in the matter, seeing as his ass is blocking my only way out.

"Goodbye, Jin. I will see you in a month or two." She went over to give him a hug. She fully expected him to grope her.

Jin bent down to give her a hug, but instead of doing that he unexpectedly grabbed her by the back of the legs, spun around and slammed her against the door. Taking full advantage of the fact that she was stunned, his lips instantly went to her neck. He was biting it so hard, Sakura was sure he was drawing blood. He used his tongue to smooth away any marks that were made.

"Jin. You have to stop. Hinata is waiting outside for me."

"Hn. Like I care. I want something before I leave."

"But she might suspect something. She knows I come out right when she honks normally."

"Fine." Jin began to set her down, but not before kissing her beautiful red lips. Not rough like her normally would, but it was almost tender, loving even. Sakura was sickened at this fact. She couldn't stand _that thing_ touching her, but as much as the thought sickened her, she would have rather had a rough, forced kiss from him versus anything else.

She quickly grabbed her bag and keys, and out the door she went. Wiping her neck so no traces of him remained, Sakura really wished that she had some disinfectant right now.

'This is already going to be a shitty day. I can feel it.'

0

Neji could not bring himself to get out of bed. He did have to go to school today, but that didn't mean that he couldn't delay it as long as possible. Honestly, he got no sleep last night. 'It's all Gaara's fault. He messed everything up. I would have been fine, well not fine, but all right eventually. Why did he have to kiss me? Why couldn't he just go on not talking to me? This just isn't fair.'

During the night, Neji kept replaying the day's events. He didn't know what he was going to do, but somehow he needed to numb the pain. Maybe he just needed to find somebody else. He didn't need to care about them like he cared about Gaara. He didn't think he could do that again. He just needed someone to take his mind away from things.

With this new resolution, he finally climbed out of bed to take his shower. Once out of the shower, Neji proceeded to his closet. 'Black; I feel like black today.' He reached in and pulled out a long-sleeve fishnet shirt along with a black T-shirt to put over it. He also found his favorite pair of black shorts. They were pretty worn down, but weren't completely trashed.

He pulled out his black eyeliner and made his way towards the mirror. Looking back at himself, He was satisfied. There was no doubt in his mind: today he could find somebody. Today he was going to forget all about Gaara. At least, that is what he hoped would happen. Before walking out the door, he threw his hair up into a high ponytail and grabbed his bag.

"Neji." He cursed his fate. For some ungodly reason, he was not able to leave the house without speaking to his uncle. "You aren't going to be late are you? Hinata left about twenty minutes ago."

"No." He let out with an exasperated sigh. "Hinata goes and picks up Sakura. That's why she leaves early. I don't pick up anyone. Now if you will excuse me, I'm going to be late if I don't hurry."

"Alright Neji. Have a good da--."

SLAM

Hiashi didn't get to finish he sentence; Neji was already out the door and on his bike. 'Oh, well.' He didn't know if he would ever get through to him.

0

Gaara had awoken that morning tired and sore. He looked down at the remnants of last night's ordeal. Everything suddenly came back to him.

0

_Gaara sat there listening to the music. He had been sitting there for two hours now. His notebook had about four new pages written in it, but he still couldn't pull himself out of the state he was in. His depression was claiming him, pulling him back down into the darkness. His voices seemed to be returning as well. Although they were still very quiet, Gaara knew that they were back._

_'Why'd he act like that? Can't he tell by now that I was scared? No, of course not. He didn't know about my past in Suna. No one knows about it here except Temari and Kankurou.'_

_He just kept replaying that scene in his head. He honestly didn't know what came over him. Gaara just couldn't take it anymore. He knew that it was a final act of desperation. He was never good with his feelings, and he was scared to tell Neji the truth. What if he didn't understand? What if he rejected him? Gaara almost let out a laugh at that last thought. Neji had rejected him, but not right away. Neji kissed him back, and if it weren't for Haku's interruption, it probably would have lasted longer._

_Gaara was so confused. His head was hurting more. He felt 'them' getting louder in his head._

_**'No one cares about you.'**_

_"Stop."_

_**'You are nothing but a whore.'**_

_**"**S-Stop it."_

_**'No one will ever love you.'**_

_"STOP IT!"_

_Gaara lost it; he couldn't take it anymore. Reaching over the side of his bed, he pulled out a shimmering blade. "One, two, three, four..." he counted, whimpering, and tearing at his flesh. The blood had already started to pool on his bed. _

_Slowly, the voices began to stop. By that time, Gaara's left arm looked like a bear had chewed on it. He pulled his arm up to look at the damage. However, his eyes would not focus. The blade slipped from his hand to fall on the floor, and at that moment sleep claimed him._

0

'Well, it looks like I have to clean up. I can't have Temari or Kankurou find out that I did 'it' again.' Gaara had been doing a lot better, and in fact he hadn't hurt himself in over a year. He had used his writing to help him out of it, but last night made no difference. He needed it, wanted it even. That pain helped pull him away from his emotional distress.

Last nights events left him exhausted. Gaara was amazed that he had actually slept the majority of the night. It was actually six thirty. After the sheets were disposed of into the washer, Gaara had climbed into the shower. The warm water ran down his arm, washing away the dried blood that still remained. It stung. His whole arm felt as if it was on fire, the flames licking their way up his entire forearm. Gaara relished the pain, and he realized he still needed it at this moment. He sat there for a while, letting the water burn.

Stepping out, Gaara made his way to his room. He looked at his arm once again. 'Long-sleeves, definitely, I need to wear long sleeves.' He settled on a mismatched shirt. It was red, but one arm had been cut off and reattached with black straps and a fishnet sleeve. Gaara then reached for a pair of black pants, to which he proceeded to attach various chains to the buckles.

He then reapplied his eyeliner and smudged it to make the lines bigger. He really didn't deem it necessary to go to school, but he knew Temari would think differently. Well, Kankurou would too, but he didn't get up until after one, so it didn't really matter to him. So, he made his way down stairs, and was about to go out the door.

"Gaara," a female voice called him back to the kitchen.

"Yeah, sis? What did you want?"

"Come here. I just want to talk to my baby brother before he goes off to school. That isn't a crime now, is it?" Temari put on her best innocent look, but Gaara knew better.

"I don't know. I'll have to check the books and get back to you on that." He got up, intending to walk out the door.

Temari wanted answers and was not done yet. She grabbed his arm; conveniently it was the same arm he decided to tear up the night before. He couldn't help but yank it back. "What? What else do you want from me?"

"I'm sorry Gaara, I was just worried about you. You didn't come out of your room last night, not even to eat. You're my baby brother; I care about you. I just don't want to see anything happen to you. That's all." Gaara felt horrible. He couldn't believe he snapped at his sister. He really didn't mean to, but he didn't want to talk.

"Hey, Aneki." Temari looked up. She couldn't help but smile at the name. He hadn't called her that in ages. "I'm alright. Really, I am."

"Promise?"

"Yeah, I promise." It wasn't a complete lie, but it wasn't the truth either.

"Okay. Well, on that note, at least have something to eat before you go." Gaara sighed. He really wasn't that hungry, but the way Temari was, she would shove the food down his throat if he rejected.

"Alright. Just hand me a piece of toast; I'm going to be late." She smiled and threw the toast at her brother. Gaara was lucky his reflexes wanted to work with him today. He smiled and walked out the door. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all. Gaara could only hope.

0

The whole group showed up at school at almost the same time. Sasuke was first; he was always first. Sasuke couldn't stand being at home longer then necessary. There he was in all his blackened glory: black silky button-up, black dickies, and black converse. His hair was rather spiky today in the back, not slicked down like it normally was.

Sakura and Hinata came up next. Hinata had her polar opposite days. Instead of looking like she could kick ass, she looked like the angel that everyone knew her as, wearing a white fishnet top with a light pink spaghetti strap underneath. She had a white pleated shirt, with white and pink knee socks and some black Mary Jane's. Both nodded their heads towards Sasuke to acknowledge him.

"Good morning!" Of course Naruto had to break all the silence that had claimed them. Sasuke was not too pleased, to say the least.

"Shut the hell up! Why do you have to be so fucking loud in the morning?" Sasuke was fuming. His brother had seriously pissed him off this morning, and had to take it out on someone. He couldn't take it out on Hinata, that girl was just too sweet for her own good, and he barely knew Sakura. So the logical thing to do was take it out on his best friend. Naruto was such an easy target anyways.

"What the hell did I do?" Naruto was easy to anger, and today was no exception. "What the fuck are you being such a bastard for anyways? I didn't do anything to you."

"You don't have to, you're just a fucking idiot! And that's enough for me!"

Naruto couldn't take it today. He really didn't know what had gotten into Sasuke, but Naruto was tired of it. "Sasuke, why don't you go to the bathroom, and remove the dick that got shoved up your ass this morning, and then come back to us."

Sasuke was speechless; Naruto had finally gotten the better of him. He had known that boy all his life. Naruto had never gotten the better of him. Sasuke stood there with his fists shaking, but decided to leave instead of punching his best friend. Sakura just stood there. She didn't even think that this was the same person she was with yesterday. Naruto's laughing brought her back to reality.

"Wow! I don't think I have ever pissed him off that bad." He doubled over in his fit of laughter.

"N-N-Naruto." This brought his attention up to his blue haired friend. "I d-d-don't think y-y-you sho--"

"You look fantastic, Hinata!" He walked over and picked her off the ground. Out of instinct she flung her arms around his neck, praying that he did not drop her. She was, after all wearing white. "Whoa! Hinata, you can loosen up a little bit. I won't drop you, I promise." Hinata blushed as she let go just a tiny bit.

"I-I-I'm s-s-sorry." She couldn't help but look down at the ground. Their faces were just so close together.

"But really, Hinata, you do look nice today." Naruto finally set her back on the ground. Hinata didn't know whether she was grateful that she was back on solid ground, or sad that she was no longer in Naruto's arms.

"Thanks." She began to occupy her time by finding an interesting twig to play with using her shoe.

Sakura watched all of this in amusement. She knew Hinata would never come forward to tell Naruto that she liked him, but she couldn't believe that Naruto was that dense. Gaara had come up in the middle of this whole ordeal. Sakura spoke a quiet hello, before getting Hinata's attention, to continue on in their conversation. Naruto ignored this.

"Hey! Panda-san! What's good?" Naruto once again returned to his loud ass self.

"Naruto would you please not call me that. I really hate it." Gaara was already rubbing his temples. He knew a headache would claim him before the day was done.

"Well, I would if you didn't look like such an adorable panda." Naruto put on his best "please-you-know-you-love-me" look.

Gaara could only sigh at this and decided to end the conversation at that. He needed to go somewhere and think, anyways.

GAARA'S POV

I just need to think, that's all it really is. Maybe that's the problem: I think too much. I bid farewell to all of you. I make up some bullshit excuse about going to see a teacher, or something.

Making my way to the courtyard, I still can't get the previous day's actions out of my head. Why do you plague me so? You have been doing this to me since we broke up. Ok, I need to rephrase that. I have been doing this to myself since I broke up with you. I really want you back in my life. I can't stand not having you near me.

Without knowing it, I am sitting under a tree. Apparently, my feet moved me here without me knowing it. It's my fault; I just couldn't take being hurt by you. I can hurt myself. I can take that pain, but to be hurt by someone I truly care about is too much for me to handle.

Why can't life be simpler? I know the answer to that already, and deem fit to answer my own question: because I choose to make it difficult. What if I had just stayed with you? Would things have turned out the way I wanted? Would I have gotten my happy ending? For some odd reason, fate decides to play with me again.

Apparently, you got to school already and did not feel like acknowledging any of us. Maybe you did after I left. Not that you would acknowledge me right now anyways. I am watching you right now. My heart feels as if it was just ripped out from my chest. Is that Deidara you're with? I can't believe you are letting that guy hang all over you. When did you like him, anyways? How come I knew nothing about this?

'Of course I wouldn't know anything about this. I haven't spoken to you in about four months.' You two are in perfect contrast with one another, darkness and light. It makes me think of how odd we looked together. Subconsciously I move my shirt to expose my battered arm. I need pain right now. As much as I don't want to watch you, I can't seem to tear my eyes away.

I start to scratch at the freshly healed scabs, and feel the wetness start to form at my fingertips. I can't take it anymore. I am less then five feet from both of you. Here you are laughing. Are you actually happy? I can't even tell anymore.

That's when the worst part of it all comes: You kiss him. It wouldn't have been so bad if he had kissed you. Then I would still have hoped that maybe you didn't want to, and just did it to avoid the awkward moment. But no, that's not the case right now. You kissed him. I think I am going to be sick. I get up from my tree and make my way to the bathroom.

NORMAL POV

Neji didn't really like Deidara that much, but he knew that the boy was crushing, and had been for a while now. He knew that it was a definite hook up. He walked and talked with him, not really paying attention to him, just smiling and nodding where he deemed appropriate. He didn't feel quite right with Deidara hanging all over him like that either, but let it slide. He saw the flash of red out of the corner of his eye, but didn't acknowledge it. He knew Gaara was sitting by the tree.

'All right, this is my chance to show him. He has to know that I don't want him now.' Neji reached up while Deidara was in mid-sentence, and pulled him closer. Neji had closed the distance between the both of them. The kiss wasn't anything rough, or passionate for that matter. It wasn't even caring, just sensual. Neji didn't care about the boy in the slightest, but he knew how to kiss, and could play a role very well when the time called for it. The red head darted away right when Neji broke the kiss. Finally, Gaara would get the point.

"Wow. That was amazing... yeah." Deidara was a little disoriented after that. He had never been kissed like that. He would have to hold on to Neji as long as possible. The dark hair boy smiled, and stated his apologies to Deidara. He promised to see him later.

0

Sasuke didn't have anywhere else to go, so he made his way to Gai-sensei's classroom. This was a big mistake, however, considering Gai was always about thirty minutes early to class every morning.

"AH I SEE OUR YOUNG UCHIHA HAS COME IN THE SPIRIT OF YOUTH THIS MORNING!" Of course Gai-sensei couldn't be quiet. This man was never quiet. He could be at a funeral, and would still be going on about the "power of youthfulness". Although Sasuke couldn't imagine what youthfulness could be found at a funeral, but he was sure that Gai would find some form hidden in a dead corpse.

"Good-morning, Gai-sensei." Sasuke took his seat, and decided to get a few more minutes of sleep before class began.

About ten minutes later everyone started to fill into his or her seats. Sakura poked at Sasuke, just to make sure he wasn't dead. She could have sworn that he wasn't breathing. She was startled when he snapped his head up to glare at the person who decided to disturb his sleep.

"Sorry. I was just going to make sure you were alright." Sakura cowered into her seat, and quickly looked away. The window seemed like a rather interesting place to occupy her time.

"Fine." This was all she got from him. In her eyes, that hardly seemed like a reply. She began to look around her classroom to see who else had come in. Naruto still wasn't there yet, and she half expected him to walk in half a second before the bell rang. That girl was there however.

'Ino, I think that's what her name was.'

Said blond was going back and forth, glaring daggers at Sakura, and swooning over the Uchiha boy. Sakura still didn't understand her fascination with him, or any other girl's for that matter. Sasuke was never nice to them. Actually, he was downright mean. He would laugh in their faces, if it weren't beneath him to do so.

Just then, a loud noise broke Sakura's gaze on said boy. She honestly didn't even know that she was staring at him. The sight in front of her was quite comical. Gai had caught Naruto in a bear hug, refusing to relinquish his grip.

"OH, THE POWER OF YOUTH HAS BROUGHT YOU TO ME!" Gai-sensei was holding him in all his waterfall tears and crashing waves glory.

Naruto, on the other hand looked like he was about to be sick. "What the hell? Gai-sensei let me go. You choking me! I'm going to die with out any air." He managed to squirm his way out of the death grip, and into his seat. "Wow! That was a close one. I think I almost died."

Sakura couldn't help but giggle at the boy's antics. "Naruto, now you know that you were in no danger to be killed by Gai-sensei. Blinded maybe, but not killed."

"Yeah I guess you're right Sakura-chan, but that hold was pretty damn tight if you ask me."

"Hey, for today did you all want to come to my house after school?" Sasuke couldn't help but tune into Sakura's every word after that statement. "Jin is out of town, he left this morning. I kind of don't want to be in my house alone. It would just feel weird."

"Yeah, sure Sakura, that would be great! Right, Sasuke?" Naruto turned to him, but Sasuke wasn't focused on Naruto at that moment. He really wasn't trying to focus on anything but sleep.

"Hn." With that said he turned around and went back to sleep.

Gai went on and on about the youthfulness of poetry, which Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura tuned out. Well, at least the best they could. Gai was a very loud person. Sakura and Naruto both kept passing notes back and forth while Sasuke slept for the rest of the class.

_Hey Sakura, what the hell is the deal with Sasuke? He's acting cold._

_**I thought he was always a cold person?**_

_Yeah he is, but today it's worse then usual. Did you break up with him or something?_

**_What the hell are you talking about? Sasuke and me _don't_ go out!_**

_Yeah I know, but he likes you. I thought maybe you turned him down or something._

_**Huh? Sasuke likes me? How do you know that?**_

_Oh. Well I always catch him looking at you, and when he left Hinata's house early the other day to take you home. Hinata and me were eavesdropping on ya'll conversation._

_**What? But that doesn't mean that he likes me or does it? I mean you have known him longer then me.**_

_Yeah I think he does, Sasuke HATES girls. He actually would have moved to a different seat by now if it were someone else. There is another reason. You've seen his fan-girls. They hate you already._

After reading that Sakura looked up once again to find Ino burning a hole straight through her head.

_**Well shit I guess your right. I don't know if he likes me or not. **_

_Trust me. He likes you. I think he likes you a lot. But the question is, do you?_

She couldn't help but giggle at Naruto's last statement. She couldn't believe that boy. He was completely dense to the fact that Hinata was seriously crushing on him, but he could read into Sasuke's little gestures as if it were nothing.

"Hey Sakura. Do you?"

"Do I what, Naruto?"

"Read the last part over."

Sakura re-read the last line. "Oh... Um, I don't know really..." She didn't want to answer the rest, just in case Sasuke was actually listening, so she grabbed the paper and started to write again.

_**I was starting to, but I don't know. I don't think that I will push my luck. I think I want to keep him as a friend right now, if I can call him that.**_

Naruto looked a little sad as he read the last part, but perked up a millisecond later. "Hey, Sasuke." For once Naruto was actually quiet. "Sakura's your friend, right?"

Sasuke looked up, wondering where in the hell that question came from. His eyes soon fell on Sakura. She looked like she was about to explode from either embarrassment, or anger. "Yeah, Naruto. She's my friend. Why the hell did you ask that?" Hearing those words made Sakura so happy. She never really had many friends. If fact, she didn't have any friends except Hinata.

"Oh, no reason." Naruto was about to continue, but was stopped by Gai-sensei.

"ALRIGHT. NOW I WILL GIVE THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE SEMESTER PROJECTS. I THINK I OUT DID MYSELF THIS YEAR." Gai passed out a piece of paper that read the following:

_Semester 1 project:_

_The youthfulness is upon us. You will construct a portfolio. It will consist of a minimum of thirty-six pages, two pages for each week. You are to use a piece of Literature. (Below are the types that will be allowed) That will be the first page. The second page will be how you feel about that particular piece of work (i.e. your emotions, and thoughts). I would like you to use a piece that reflects on your life for that week. You will be graded on three things; your presentation of your portfolio, your interpretation of the Literature, and spelling and grammar. All work must be sited. If it is not, that is plagiarism, and you will get an automatic 0, therefore failing the assignment and the semester. The following works will be allowed:_

_-Poems_

_-Short stories_

_-Music lyrics_

_Anything else that you wish to use will have to be approved by me. I will get into more details as the semester progresses._

'Well that's not too bad; I think I'm going to like this class after all.'

Just then the bell rang and it was time for Sakura to go to Chemistry, but one final thought crossed her mind. "I wonder where Gaara is?'

0

"Why?" Gaara had been in the bathroom for over an hour, and he still couldn't say anything else. "Why?" His thoughts had been plaguing him since he saw Neji kiss Deidara.

'I don't understand. He is supposed to love _me_. Why would he do that to me? Didn't he know I was there?'

**'Of course he knew you were there. Why do you think he did it?'**

'No.' Gaara did not need this right now. He didn't need the voices to come back to haunt him.

**'You mean nothing to him. He doesn't care about you.'**

'You're lying! Neji cares. I know he does.'

**'Why would he care about you? To him, you are vapor, something that just gets in the way of everything. You are nothing but a whore, and a waste of space to him.'**

"Stop it! You're lying!"

"Gaara?"

He froze. 'No. God, please no. Don't let that be him.' He turned around hoping that his luck really wasn't that bad, but apparently it was. Gaara looked over his shoulder to find the one that caused him all of this pain. Neji had just walked in.

"What are you doing?" Neji couldn't help but to be concerned. As much as he wanted to forget, he simply couldn't. Gaara had been a part of his life, and Neji honestly wanted him back, but didn't know if he could trust him. The things that were said hurt Neji deeply, and he didn't want to go through that again. Gaara still wouldn't answer him. He just kept rocking back and forth on his knees, muttering the word "why?"

"Gaara, answer me." He began to take in the younger boys appearance. He looked like hell, and Neji can't remember ever seeing him this bad. His make-up had run completely down his face. His skin was paler then usual. The black smudges on his face make it stand out even more. Neji could make out a little movement of his arms. It looked like he was scratching himself.

"Gaara!" Neji had lost it. He wanted answers, and he wasn't getting them. "What the hell? Why wont you answer me?" Finally, he looked back to the brunette.

"Why? Why'd… y-y-you… t-t-that?" Gaara could barley form the words together, let alone make a full sentence.

"Huh?" Neji was confused for a minute, but then it all came back. Gaara had seen him kiss Deidara. Well he knew that he had, but this confirmed it. He quickly got angry with the boy. "Why the hell do you care? You broke up with me. Remember? And whom I kiss isn't any of your business. We are not together! We aren't even friends! So don't concern yourself with my relationships."

'Relationships? Neji was dating Deidara?' Gaara lost it. He couldn't take it anymore.

"You don't even fucking know! You think you are so smart. Well you know what? You know nothing!" He rose to his feet, and was just inches from the boy's face. With tears in his eyes, Gaara continued to scream at him. "My life... You know _shit_ about my life!"

"What the hell? That's because you never let me!"

"I don't care! They were right! You were going to hurt me! You _are_ hurting me!"

"What the fuck are you talking about? You broke up with ME! You hurt ME! So why the hell are you so fucking upset? I swear I don't get you at all!"

Finally, Gaara had calmed down. "You're right. You don't get me. You know what? And you're right, I did break up with you, and do you know why?

"Why?" Neji snorted

"Because; because you were going to hurt me. And it looks like I was right." Gaara dropped his head down, and went to go pick up his things. School was not a place for him to be right now. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to call Kankurou. He needed to leave.

"Hey Kankurou. I need you to come get me... Yeah, I'm fine; I just don't feel good... All right. You'll pick me up? Thanks." After he ended his phone call, he walked out of the bathroom, leaving a very pissed off Neji, but not before telling him one last thing.

"You know, I really thought I was beginning to love you."

0

At lunch, the entire group was brought back together. Hinata and Sakura were still finishing their conversation from earlier. Sasuke just sat at the table. He was still trying to catch some sleep. Actually, he got plenty of sleep, but he was still pissed off at his brother and was using this so he didn't have to talk to anyone.

"Oh, yeah. I just remembered. You all can come to my house after school if you want. Jin isn't there. He left to go out of town, so I got the house all to myself."

"Yeah, that would be nice. I still haven't seen your new house Sakura-chan," Hinata told her. Everyone else agreed. So it was settled they were all going to Sakura's. They were packing up their things to get ready to leave. Just then, Naruto had a brilliant idea.

"Hey Sasuke! Can you go ahead and take Sakura to her house? Hinata has to run me somewhere really quick. Remember Hinata?"

"Umm...yeah?" She didn't really know what to say, but just agreed. What the hell is Naruto planning anyways? She wondered.

Naruto didn't give Sasuke time to answer, and instead grabbed Hinata and walked away. Sakura turned and looked at him. He looked like he was ready to kill him.

"You know what Sasuke? I think I will just walk." She really didn't know what had gotten into him, but she didn't like it.

"What the hell? You live like 5 miles away. Naruto and Hinata will be at you house by the time you get there."

"Well, it's obvious that you don't want to be around me right now. You haven't spoken two words to me all day, so I am just going to save the hassle and walk home. That way, you don't have to be in my presence." With that spoken, Sakura made her way out of the cafeteria and to the parking lot.

Sasuke was not about to hear shit from Naruto or Hinata about letting her walk home. Well, he highly doubted that Hinata would say much, but Naruto would bitch enough for the both of them combined. "Sakura, wait." He ran to catch up with her, but she refused to speak to him, so he took another alternative. He stood in his place for a few seconds to get some distance in between them. After a good ten feet were between them, he ran and scooped her up bridal style and carried her to his car.

Sakura was in complete shock. For a minute, she thought she had fallen, but when she looked up, all she could see was black. Once again, she was staring into those black eyes that she found herself so comfortable in. "Sasuke, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm getting you to your house one-way or the other. I refuse to listen to Naruto bitch because I let you walk. And you weren't going to listen to me... so this is the other alternative." He smirked a little bit. He had noticed her blush that rose up on her face.

She couldn't believe it; this boy was worse than somebody who was bipolar. It hadn't even been a second ago when he was cold and uncaring, and now here he was carrying her. For a moment, she could have sworn that he came back to the Sasuke that she had been getting to know. 'We will see when we get to my house. I must remember to thank Naruto later, and kill him at the same time. This might be a little fun.' She smiled a little bit and leaned on Sasuke's shoulder the rest of the walk to the car.

Junsui Kegasu's BETA Notes: "Where has my heart gone; an uneven trade for the real world? Oh, I, I want to go back to – " …Oh, hi! YAY for the chappie and BURN, NEJI, BURN! Yep, yep, good job, good job, HIIIII all your reviewing people! (waves) Okiis, I need to work on my own stories, now…DHJDASFDSGHFSJSJH OMIGOD, 15 PAGES! Wow!

A/N: Oh, I feel so evil for what I'm doing to Gaara. Oh yeah for all you rabid SasuSaku there will be more of them I the next chapter. I was on such a rool with Gaara and Neji... I kinda left them out... Please forgive me! I am sick at this moment so if for some reason I have confused you please let me know and I will try to fix it!

_**MC:** OMG... You know I love your reviews so much! They make me Sparkly! I had alot of fun writing that part. I love Gaara and Neji... glomps_

_**Badtz:** I am getting there. I swear I am! Remember people must be friends before they can be lovers. wink wink_

_**Blood Red nin:** Yesh yesh! Jin will suffer... I will make sure of that!_

_**Sakura-girl 2005:** Sorry about the OOC-ness. I mean come on tho could you really see him taking care of her and being an ass at the same time... well Yeah i could to, but it just wouldn't write out that way. I'm not mad I like honesty!_

_**Kawaii-Hisui: **Oh yeah Itachi is about 22 in this story. Don't worry... I have been neglecting Sasuke and Sakura lately... but they will have thier moment next chapter. I promise!_

_And BIG Thank-yous to the following:** neu chi no nai u, Shinobi Darkbeak, **and **Blackangeltwin1. **I reall do love reviews. they make me happy!_


	6. Confrontations

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto... but I wish I did...Gaara... (sigh)

Warning: I am kind of disturbed right now... so... anything that's bad in this story is just because I can do it. But an extra heads up. I do have some citrus going on so, young one's advert your eyes.

A/N: Oh yeah! Here is some sasusaku moments for all of ya'll! I hope you like them It took forever to get it out on paper. I haven't gotten to much feedback on my NejiGaa pairing, Do yall just not like it? Or just not care? Oh yes and of course I am ever so thankful for my BETA. She knows I love her! THANK YOU JK! God knows no one would understand my stories if you didn't BETA them. Well... story as seeing I only have 1 out right now.

Last time:

She couldn't believe it. This boy was worse than somebody with a bi-polarity disorder. It hadn't even been a second ago when he was cold and uncaring, and now here he was carrying her. For a moment, she could have sworn that he came back to the Sasuke that she had been getting to know. 'We will see when we get to my house. I must remember to thank Naruto later, and kill him at the same time. 'This might be a little fun.' She smiled a little bit and leaned on Sasuke's shoulder the rest of the walk to the car.

* * *

Chapter 6: Confrontations

"Oh, Thank you so much, Hinata." Naruto was thanking her for about the thousandth time. Hinata still didn't know what she did, exactly. She was just happy that he was thanking her.

"I have been trying to get Sasuke with someone for the longest time, and your friend seems to interest him. I think he just needed a little push." Hinata was still at a loss as Naruto rambled on about Sasuke. She was finally starting to put the pieces together.

"Oh yeah. Lets go get something to eat, that way they have more time alone." Naruto sat there with the most perverted look on his face. At this last statement Hinata was shocked.

"N-N-Naruto! I-I-I can't b-b-believe that you j-j-just said that! S-S-Sakura-chan isn't like that!" Hinata surprised both her and Naruto with that little outburst. "I-I-I'm s-s-s-sorry. I-I-I s-s-shouldn't have said t-t-that." Realizing the tone she was taking, she brought her voice down to a whisper. Naruto had almost missed what she said entirely.

"Nah, don't worry about it," he said while dropping down closer to her face. "It's kind of sexy when you yell."

Hinata couldn't believe what she just heard. 'Naruto just said I was sexy?' She couldn't do anything but stare back at him. She could feel her face flush, both with embarrassment, and the fact that Naruto was about two inches from her face. "I-I-I... w-w-well...Th-th-thanks." It took all her will power to allow her voice to escape through her lips.

The honking of horns behind them brought Hinata out of her daze. "So... wh-wh-where did y-y-you want t-t-to go?"

"Hinata do you have to ask? Haven't you know me long enough to know what I like?"

'No. Why does he always want the same thing? Couldn't he just settle for a salad or something else?' Both knew where they were going next.

'Ramen.'

"RAMEN!"

* * *

"So... Sasuke. Do you know what Hinata had to do for Naruto?" Sakura was trying to break the silence. Today just wasn't a day where silence was needed.

"No. I wasn't even aware of the fact until Naruto said something, and they just ran off without saying what they had to do."

"Well I know that Hinata would have been talking about it to me all day if she knew. And the look on her face said she didn't know a thing." Sakura began to ponder on this for a little bit.

"Why would she have been talking about it all day? She would have just been taking Naruto somewhere."

Sakura couldn't help but sweat drop. 'Are they really this dense?'

"You're kidding, right?" Sasuke shook his head, stating that he was, in fact, serious. "You mean you really don't know?" Once again Sasuke shook his head. "Wow, you really are as dense as Naruto."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Sasuke didn't like being compared to Naruto in any way, especially when it came to intelligence.

"It means that Hinata likes Naruto, and from what I can understand she has liked him for a long time! It seems that nether you nor anybody else has picked up on it. It really is a shame, though."

"Why do you say that?" Sasuke was curious as to why Hinata liking Naruto would be a shame.

"Look at Hinata. I love her to death, but she is scared of her own shadow! Do you honestly think that she would come out and tell Naruto that she liked him?"

"No, I guess she wouldn't." Sasuke looked down at lap. He was going into a very deep thought process right now.

"And Naruto. Well... Naruto is just too damn dense and will never put two and two together." Sakura sighed as she finished her rant. In fact, it was perfect timing; they had just pulled up to her house. Both got out of the car and made their way to the front door.

Sasuke was still thinking. Actually, it was kind of ironic; Hinata and Naruto's position was the same as his. He had finally admitted to himself that he did in fact like the pink haired girl. She intrigued him, and she was more like him then anyone else. Naruto and him shared the same bond of loneliness, but no one he knew understood the pain of loss. Sakura did, and that mask she wore... Although it was the complete opposite of the one he placed over himself, it was still there, hiding all her true pain.

"Sasuke?" Her gentle voice broke all of his thoughts. "Are you alright? You haven't spoken since I started to mention Hinata and Naruto."

"Huh? Yeah. I'm fine. I was just...thinking. That's all." He looked up at her and was immediately drawn to her eyes. They were so full of life, but underneath, he still made out the hidden pain that was her life.

"Um, okay." She broke the gaze. She was not going to let herself fall for another one. Her heart had already broken once. She refused to fall for another cold-hearted bastard, just because she thought that he could understand her. It was his fault, really. He played her. He had made her think that she was loved, and in the end, she was left with nothing. "Oh... um... How 'bout I show you around for a little bit. You know, give you a tour of the house?"

"Yeah, sure."

Sakura began to lead Sasuke through the house. She finished the down stairs and was beginning to go up to the top floor. Sakura was unaware that she still had hold on the Uchiha's hand; the unconscious warmth that passed between their fingers helped her calm down. Even though she knew Jin was gone, and had been gone for several hours, she had this fear that he was going to jump out of a room and "punish" her for having a boy in the house.

She slowly gave him the tour upstairs: her bathroom, Jin's room, the game room, and so on and so on.

"Well what room is that?" He pointed to the only door that was closed in the whole house.

"Oh, well that's my room. I keep it locked so that Jin can't go searching when I'm at school or out. Who am I kidding? I never go out." She sighed at the last statement.

"Well, we are going to change that while he is gone. The gang goes to a club or a party at least every weekend, so there is never a shortage of entertainment."

"Wow, really?" Sakura kept walking past her room, and then for the first time, she noticed that the warmth had left her hand. She looked back and Sasuke was leaning on her bedroom door.

"Sa-ku-ra. I still haven't seen your room yet." He couldn't help but smirk as she faltered for a moment.

"M-m-m-my r-r-r-room isn't n-n-nothing s-s-s-special." She couldn't believe it. Her mind kept telling her to stop, but something else made her feet move to unlock the door. "S-s-s-see? Nothing special." Her voice had returned to her.

"Yes it is. It's your room. It can tell everything about you." Sasuke could honestly tell a lot about a person just by being in their room.

"Oh really? Well why don't you tell me about myself. Hum?" Sakura crossed her arms and sat down on her bed.

"Ok where to start?" He slowly began to scan the room. "You hide behind things, and don't let people see the real you. You are a trustworthy person, but you yourself trust no one. For the most part, you tend to be a loner, and stay where you are safe. Hummm, and if I didn't know any better, you hide behind your music, and have some mild depression." Sasuke was very proud of himself. He normally couldn't do that well, but then again, it wasn't hard considering he knew about her life... well some of it at least.

"Hummm." That's all she could say. He was right, right about everything, although sometimes, she suffered from more then just mild depression. "Well, you are good. So now you know, huh? I'm a complete freak, an emotional wreck." She lay back on her bed. Even though she spoke those words, for some reason, they stung.

"I didn't say that, Sakura, you did." He made his way over to her and sat down next to her. "Everyone has their own problems, some more then others. People like you; Gaara, and I are in the 'more' category. People like Hinata fall into the others." She turned away so she wouldn't have to look at him.

'Not now, please, I can't look at him now. I'm too weak. I won't be able to stop it.' Sakura wanted so badly for him to just leave. She couldn't take him today. She wouldn't be able to fight him.

"Sakura." She could feel him moving on her bed. He was moving closer to her, hovering over her. "Sakura. Please look at me." He brought his hand to her face and tilted it to face him.

"No." She tried to fight it, but the minute she got a glance at those eyes she lost. They sat there for a minute, just looking at each other. Sasuke was leaning over her. She couldn't stop herself. Those eyes of his mirrored her own. She could tell they both suffered. She wanted so bad to stop that suffering, so she did the only thing she could think of, she kissed him.

Everything seemed to click at that moment. Both bodies knew this is what they needed, what they both longed for. Their pain was washed away, if even for a moment. It was gone.

Sasuke pulled away from the brief encounter to stare back at her. Shame seemed to grace her eyes as she turned to avoid his stare, those eyes that were so like hers. They seemed to burn into her soul, reading everything about her past, her pain, everything that was there. What had she done? This was the last thing she needed in her life right now. She couldn't even fathom this.

Sasuke moved his hand to her face and brought it back to his eyes. "Sakura." With that said he bent down to capture her lips again. This was absolute bliss for the both of them. It was tender, with longing and pain laced into it. Sakura couldn't take it anymore; she needed this. It was someone to take her pain. She wrapped her hands around his neck to pull him deeper. Her mouth opened slightly to let him in.

He ran his tongue along her lips before pushing past them. The kiss became something more then satisfying. The longing turned into passion, and the pain into comfort. Both couldn't remember being this happy. Sakura had been this happy, but that was a long time ago. Sasuke had never been like this. The feeling that took over; he needed to explore more, he wanted more to this.

He took the passion and ran with it. Pushing deeper into her, laying his body down onto her. He pushed away the dominance that she was fighting for, and took control of her. She really wasn't putting up much of a fight to begin with. He broke apart from the battle to allow precious air into his lungs. He looked down at her, the breathing had become more rapid, and jagged. Sasuke took this as a sign to continue. He moved down her face, and began the ministrations on her neck. He began to earn small whimpers and moans from her lips. This did nothing but cause him to want to find new spots. He wanted to know what would make her louder... well besides the obvious places. He didn't like to be obvious, and actually was having fun teasing the small girl underneath him.

He pushed her top up to reveal he stomach. The skin had healed somewhat, but the paintings of her life were still branded onto the pale flesh. He gently moved his tongue up her body trying to sooth away the pain that she still must have felt. A wet trail was left in the wake as her body shivered against his touch.

"S-S-Sasuke." Her voice came out lower then normal, and was laced with lust. "Please, Sasuke." He looked up to find her staring at him. He couldn't say no to her. That look in her eyes… it just said, "please take my pain away." His hand reached down to take off the layers of clothing she had covering her lower half.

"BANG...BANG..."

Of course, nothing works out how it should. It just so happened that Naruto and Hinata had finished running their "errand".

* * *

Gaara sighed as he rode in the car. He was staring out the window as Kankurou drove down the road. The scenery outside blurred in Gaara's vision, the ground and sky melding together into one. They had been driving around for about two hours now, neither one of them wanting to break the silence. Finally, Kankurou had enough with not knowing what the real reason was for his brother's phone call.

"Hey, Gaara, are you sure that you are all right? I have this funny feeling that you aren't being very honest with me." Kankurou frowned at his little brother in concern.

"Huh? Yeah, Kank, I'm fine. I really just didn't feel good and wanted to go home." He still had not torn his gaze away from the window.

"Uh huh. Whatever you say, little one." Gaara wanted so bad to glare at his older brother, but he didn't have the motivation to do so right now. "Ok. Now I _know_ that there is something wrong with you. You would never let me get away with that, at least not without a glare. Really, Gaara, what's wrong with you? You have been like this for two days straight. Me and Tem are worried."

"Don't worry about me, alright? Tell Aneki that I am fine."

Kankurou found it odd that he was using "Aneki" when referring to Temari. Gaara hadn't used that name... well Kankurou couldn't even remember when he last heard him call her that. "Somehow, Gaara, I don't think that will work. Now honestly, what has been going on with you? I haven't seen you this bad in months, and for some strange reason I think it has something to do with Neji."

Gaara couldn't help it. His green eyes began to fill with liquid, blurring the passing scenery even more. "S-S-Shut-up Kankurou. I do not want to hear his name right now." He once again began to roll up his sleeves to open up his already marred arm.

"Oh, so it _does_ have something to do with him. What did he do to you, Gaara?" Kankurou's voice took on a dangerous tone. Although Gaara was not scared of him, that tone showed that he was going to get his information either way.

"Gaara! Answer me! What the fuck did he do to you?" Right now Kankurou's voice rivaled that of their father. It was so eerie how much they sounded alike when anger was present.

"N-N-Nothing. Really. He didn't do anything to me. I-I-I did it t-t-to my s-s-self." Gaara dug deeper into his flesh, once again painting his fingertips with a red stain.

"You're lying, Gaara. Tell me the truth."

Gaara was about to explain when Kankurou slammed on the breaks. "What the hell?" He grabbed Gaara's arm and wrenched up the sleeve. "Why Gaara? Why did you do it again?" His voice held nothing but concern for his younger brother.

"I'm sorry, Aniki. I really am, b-b-but I couldn't h-h-help it. I n-n-needed it." Gaara wouldn't even turn to look at him. He just kept his eyes downcast at the floor, crying silent tears. He couldn't help but let them fall. The only thing evident that he was indeed crying was the stuttering. Crying always made Gaara stutter, sometimes more then others. Right now was a really bad time.

Kankurou sat there, pulled off on the side of the road, staring at his brother's arm. He let out a frustrated sigh. "I just don't get it Gaara. Why wont you come to Temari or me when it's going to get this bad? We don't want to see this again. You scared us once before." Kankurou pulled out a cloth that he kept in his pocket. It didn't cover up all of the wounds, but it did cover up the ones that Gaara had reopened. "Now please, Gaara, tell me what happened."

He lost it. He really couldn't take the pain anymore. It was too much for him. He went on for about thirty minutes, telling his older brother about trying to get Neji back, and him turning Gaara down, then the next day when he saw him with Deidara, and finally the confrontation in the bathroom. "I don't wanna hurt anymore Aniki. Please make it stop. Please." His heart wrenched at his brother's pleas, the main reason being that Kankurou could do nothing to ease his pain. No one could help him.

"Honestly Gaara, I don't think there is much anyone can do right now. This will be something that will have to be learned on its own. "He pulled his arms tighter around the smaller frame, rubbing his back up and down, trying to calm the broken boy. "Do you want me to talk to him? Maybe explain what happened in Suna?" He felt the boys head shake in response. It had been a no. "All right, Gaara. I want you to look at me." With that, Gaara's gaze turned upwards.

"If you ever get this bad - I mean it, ever - I want you to come to Tem or me. You got it?" He answered with a nod. "Good. Now how 'bout we go home?"

"Sure." Gaara's voice had come back to him. "Oh. Could you not tell Temari about this?" He gestured to his battered arm. "I don't want her to be disappointed in me."

"She wont be disappointed Gaara, just worried."

"Please, Aniki, I don't want her to know." His voice was pleading and threatened to bring tears to his eyes once again.

"Alright, Gaara. I will keep this between us. But I mean it. I don't want to see this again, got it?"

"Yeah... I got it."

"Good."

* * *

"Hey Sasuke, what took you so long to get the door?" Naruto couldn't help but smirk at the disheveled appearance of both his best friend and now Sakura who had just wandered down the stairs. It quickly faded when he caught a look at Sakura's emotion. It was clearly anger.

"Sasuke, what the hell are you doing answering my door? This is my house after all. It makes me look rude if I have guest answer my door. What kind of hostess do I look like now?"

"Sakura don't worry about it really. Naruto and me don't think ill of you. Sasuke was just here before you." Hinata's stutter was no longer present in her voice. Sakura figured that she would ask her about it later.

"Uh huh. Anyways. I already gave Sasuke a tour of the house. Now I will do the same for you." Sakura rounded the downstairs and then the upstairs following the same pattern that she did with Sasuke. After that was finished it was time to find something to do. Naruto had noticed that they had a pool table in the game room.

"Hummm. I wanna beat that bastard at pool!" Naruto practically shouted his challenge to he dark haired boy. "That's it, me and Hinata versus you two.

"Alright Naruto. But I will warn you; I am the best at this game. You must remember that it is in my house after all." Sakura awaited this challenge. The only time she had played with other people was when she had to entertain Jin's "business partners." She would beat their asses until the very end, but they always won. Jin said it was bad sport to let a women win at anything, so she was always forced to lose.

"You're on, Sakura-chan," he grinned as he made his way to the game room.

It wasn't that Hinata and Naruto were really bad; actually it was quite the opposite. Hinata had a knack for shooting pool, and actually did better then Naruto. In the end, Sakura had kept her promise. She really was the best, and had won the game for them in the end.

"Awww. Sakura-chan, how'd you get so good?" Naruto couldn't help but whine at his loss.

"Oh... well... when Jin has company I have to entertain them for the most part. So I normally play them in a few rounds of pool." Sakura wasn't going into any more detail with that subject and quickly changed it. "Hey! How bout some dinner?"

"Yes! How bout ramen?"

"Naruto. We had ramen for lunch remember?" Hinata could not believe that he wanted ramen again.

"But Hinata-chan, I love ramen. You know that." Naruto got down to her level and gave her the most pathetic puppy dog look he could muster. "Don't you want me to be happy?"

"I... but... yes." Hinata almost died having him that close to her. 'He has been doing that an awful lot lately. Does he know what it does to me?'

"Well Hinata, if Naruto wants ramen feel free to make it for him. I was going to make so stir-fry anyways, it's quick and easy. I have the ingredients for ramen in the kitchen."

With that, Hinata and Sakura made their way to the kitchen while the boys made them comfortable on the couch, watching television.

"Hey bastard. Did you have fun with Sakura?" Naruto had to find out. The way they looked when they came downstairs was priceless.

"I have no idea what you are talking about Naruto. Me and Sakura are friends."

"Yeah right. I saw the way you looked when you came downstairs. Both of you were disheveled, and Sakura looked very pissed for the interruption."

"You know what? You really are an idiot sometimes." Before Naruto could come back with a comment, Sasuke continued. "You can pick up on the tiniest things in other peoples relationships, but you yourself can't see what is so blatantly in front of your face."

" So you do have a relationship with -- Huh what the hell are you talking about Sasuke?" Naruto was very confused that this point.

"I'm talking about Hin--"

"Umm, boys, food's ready. Would you please come sit down? I'm afraid you wont be able to eat in the living room. Sorry, but I don't trust you." Sasuke was so going to get it later, Sakura thought.

'I can't believe he almost told Naruto. Hinata is going to kill me. We both heard the conversation between the two of them. Thank god I stopped it in time.'

"We will continue this later Naruto."

Everyone sat down to eat, Sakura, Hinata, and Sasuke with their stir-fry, and Naruto with his precious ramen.

"Wow Hinata. I didn't know you could cook so well. I think I might just have to take you home with me, that way you can make me ramen every night."

"Umm Naruto, as much as I'm sure that Hinata would love to go home with you, I don't think she wants to go there to be a ramen slave." Sakura couldn't help but giggle at Hinata's misfortune. The poor girl looked like she was going to die.

* * *

Both Neji and Deidara walked into the small house. Deidara lived alone. Neji later found out hat his father had killed himself and his mother had run out on him two years ago. They made their way past all of the artwork that laid around and made their way back to Deidara's room.

"Oh sorry bout all the pictures laying around...yeah."

"No, don't worry about it." Neji glanced at one sketch. It was a small one of a boy; Neji decided that he was about the same age as him, sitting on a hill with his back facing the world. He was looking over the horizon that had a huge explosion coming from it. Graffiti words were written in the grass. 'Art is a Bang.' "Wow, are these really yours?"

"Yeah. I get bored a lot, and I draw what comes to me for the most part. Sometimes I will go to the park and draw there too...yeah." He looked down at the picture Neji held in his hands. "That I drew at the park. It was done about four months ago. I saw someone there, and his whole world looked like it had just came crashing down. It was like everything was just destroyed. So that's where I got the idea for the explosion... yeah."

Neji looked down at the picture one more time before placing it back on the table beside the bed. "It's really good."

"Well you're really good too...yeah." Deidara brought himself closer to the Hyuuga boy. He wanted what had happened earlier. He wanted that feeling back.

Neji was there to forget about Gaara, and forget him he was. He returned the kiss to the blond. He was going to give this boy everything he had in him. The only thing he wasn't able to force through his lips was love, but then again Deidara knew he couldn't get that. He was going to use sex to get away, to get away from everything.

DEIDARA'S POV

Yes, this is what I wanted the whole time. I have wanted you since I moved here, but that damn redhead… He took you from me. He took my chance to have you. It's ironic isn't it? He took you from me, but he is the same reason that you are in my arms right now, isn't it? He broke you, and now you are here in my arms, seeking your release from me.

Do you even know how good you taste to me? The sweetness that comes from your lips reminds me of vanilla. I want you now more then ever. I will make you forget him, that redheaded bastard that haunts my dreams.

I am actually pretty surprised you didn't figure it out from that picture. I was at the park the day he broke up with you. I waited until after you left, and he sat there on the hill, writing in his stupid book, and crying. How could he cry? He is the one that broke you. It wasn't the other way around. It angers me so much I just can't take it anymore. I want more from you. Light touches and kissing is not going to do it for me. I want to make you forget him. I _will_ make you forget him.

I push you down on the bed and begin to remove you shirt. My cold fingers graze across your heated chest. I can feel you shudder underneath me. It feels so good. I want more from you still. I am going to make you mine tonight, over and over again. I don't think you are going home until real late. I'm going to keep you here as long as possible. You break me away from my thoughts.

I can't take it. I want to feel you. Your moaning and writhing underneath me is too much. I'm going to take you now. I just can't wait any longer. I will claim you as my own tonight. I have made you want me. And that was my only goal tonight. I don't want you to love me; I want you to _lust_ after me.

* * *

Sakura knew that she was going to have to talk to Sasuke. She didn't want to hurt him, but she hadn't meant to take it so far. It had felt so good to share her pain with someone finally. Everyone had already gone home for the evening, and Sakura talked to Hinata over the phone. Hinata was the only one who knew what had happened in Sakura's past. She hadn't been there for it, but she could remember her tears coming through over the phone. She wanted so badly to go back to Tokyo, hug her friend and then shoot the man that caused her so much pain to begin with.

Hinata had agreed to talk to Sasuke for her. She knew that Sakura wouldn't't have been able to do it on her own, much less in person. Hell, Hinata didn't even know what she was going to do. Sakura just hoped that he wouldn't be too mad.

* * *

Hinata had picked up the phone for the tenth time. She still couldn't bring herself to call Sasuke. She didn't want to face his wrath when he got upset. She was sure that there was only one person that could take it and have it roll off his back like it was nothing, Naruto. For some reason the cold glares and snide remarks never fazed him. She knew that she wasn't going to be able to call him, she couldn't't. Talking to him in person was defiantly out of the question. There was only one other way. Hinata got up and walk over to the computer.

She signed online to see if she still had his screen name saved. After signing on, a yellow box popped up. She did still have it.

**Unsuspected187: **Hey

**Sil3entkiller: **Hi Hinata. What did you want?

**Unsuspected187:** Well... I need to talk to you about Sakura-chan. I have to explain to you something... It's about her past.

**Sil3entkiller:** ...Ok? What is it?

**Unsuspected187: **Well. First off. Please don't be mad with her. I... Well she doesn't want this to affect your friendship in any way. She really does trust you, and coming from her... that says a lot.

**Sil3entkiller:** Really Hinata will you just say it. I wont hurt her. I can't believe you would think I could do that. Now really... I'm tired so hurry up!

**Unsuspected187:** All right... well she did tell me what happened with the two of you in her room today. I will not breathe a word of this to anyone. I want you to know that. I wont even say anything to Naruto.

**Sil3entkiller: **…

**Unsuspected187:** Aright... well after Sakura's mom died, she really didn't talk to anyone. She would still talk to me, but a lot of people that knew her were cut off completely. Some time after that, she met this guy. He was a few years older. She was fourteen at the time and he was seventeen. He really helped her a lot. He helped her in ways I couldn't. Right before I left to come here they got together... I was really happy for her. She had finally found someone that understood her.

**Sil3entkiller: **She hasn't mentioned anything about a boyfriend... please don't tell me that she is still with him, and that's why she has you talking to me.

**Unsuspected187: **No Sasuke. It's nothing like that... I'm not done yet.

**Sil3entkiller:** ... Ok...

**Unsuspected187: **She was so happy before I left. So I knew that she would be ok but after I left everything changed. He was still very kind to her and treated her really well. But Sakura became really distant after a while. She stopped calling, and wouldn't talk long to me if I did reach her. She still won't admit it to me, but I know what happened. A few of my other friends that I still talked to told me she had gotten really bad into drugs. I didn't want to believe it. It was Sakura-chan. She was so nice and sweet. I still to this day don't know what made her turn to a needle instead of me.

**Sil3entkiller:** ……..

**Unsuspected187: **Well after a year they finally broke up. I can still remember her calling me and crying her eyes out for hours over the phone that day... Honestly I think she would have killed herself that day if she weren't able to reach me. I really never got to much information about their relationship, but the break up is still very clear in my head. She said that when they broke up it wasn't really on bad terms at first. She found out a few days later that the only reason that he was dating her was to get into her step-dad's business. She then asked him if their year and a half relationship meant anything to him. Do you know what that bastard had the nerve to tell her?

**Sil3entkiller: **What?

**Unsuspected187:** He laughed in her face... he laughed at her, and told her "What relationship? We were just fucking anyways. I got what I want, and now I'm bored with you."

**Sil3entkiller: **Yeah that is some fucked up shit, but what does this have to do with her and me? Well more specifically what we did today?

**Unsuspected187: **Sakura really does care about you, but she doesn't want, nor does she need a relationship. She is too scared of what is going to happen, and she doesn't want to hurt you. Please do not be mad at her. She wants to stay friends with you. In my opinion she needs to stay friends with you. She wants you in her life, just not in that way... at least not now. She's still haunted by her past.

**Sil3entkiller:** Well if that's what she wants. That's what she can get. I'm going to bed now. Tell her that I will talk to her tomorrow about this. Can you do that for me?

Unsuspected187: Sure Sasuke but you're sure you're not mad right?

**Sil3entkiller: **Yeah I'm mad, but... donno. I wont take it out on her at least. Will that work for ya?

**Unsuspected187:** Yeah Sasuke that will work for me. Just don't hurt her. I never want to hear that sound in her voice again. Next time I think it will kill me.

Hinata never did get her reply. She sat there at the computer, staring at the screen. Sasuke had signed off, and the words still sat on the screen blurred together making and black and white blob. Hinata never could tell that story without tears flowing from her eyes. She just hoped that everything would work out.

* * *

_**Reishaa:** Thank-you so much. I swear my cousin would kill me is she saw that! I do like the original version, but for the life of me I could not think of who did it. I am so sorry!_

_**Malitia:** I went to double check on that. Yes you are right, but so am I. Aneki can also be used as big sister. So I am going to stick with it, but thank you for the insight._

_**MC:** I am sorry about the back and forth, but it will be that way for a while. Gaara is just going to go through some shit in his life. I can't do angst without bad shit happening, and Gaara is the perfect candidate for it._

_**GhEttO ChIc: **I have already spoken to you, and we have worked out this misunderstanding._

_And many thank-you's to the following,** Sasukefurever, Shinobi Darkbeak, neu chi no nai u, **and **lilaznstarfire11.**_

**A/N:** Alrighty. Wow that was really hard to do. That citrus this had me stuck for a while. I am sooo worried about it. Feedback would be GREATLY appreciated for this chapter. I am kinda losing my steam so to speak.Well you know the drill, R&R please.

**Junsui Kegasu's BETA Notes:** Yosh! Whoa, I read a heterosexual citrus thing and I liked it…what am I coming to? Also, also, the IM conversation wasn't edited nearly as thoroughly as everything else because they were talking online and…well, not a lot of people type formally when they IM. (I do, but I'm a freak)


	7. Twisted Thoughts

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto if I did...well I donno, but I would be rich!

A/N:I want to thank my wonderful BETA JK I don't know what I would do with out ya! I didn't get as much feed back as I would have liked from the last chapter. I would like more, but then again I cannot force people to review.

* * *

Last time: 

**Unsuspected187:** Sure Sasuke but you're sure you're not mad right?

**Sil3entkiller: **Yeah I'm mad, but... donno. I wont take it out on her at least. Will that work for ya?

**Unsuspected187:** Yeah Sasuke that will work for me. Just don't hurt her. I never want to hear that sound in her voice again. Next time I think it will kill me.

Hinata never did get her reply. She sat there at the computer, staring at the screen. Sasuke had signed off, and the words still sat on the screen blurred together making a black and white blob. Hinata never could tell that story without tears flowing from her eyes. She just hoped that everything would work out.

* * *

Chapter7: Twisted Thoughts 

Sakura should have been happy when she woke up this morning, but she was actually dreading what was to come. She knew that Hinata had talked to Sasuke last night. She wasn't sure what was said between them exactly, but she knew that there would be a confrontation. Sakura just couldn't take any more heartbreak. She took pride in the mask that she wore, and she couldn't afford to let it slip now. She had to stay focused.

'All I need to do it graduate and get the hell out of here. Get away from Jin, away from all my problems.'

She sighed as she let the water run over her, still careful that she did not get her hair wet. Her wound had still not healed fully. Sasuke said it would probably be another day or two until she could take off the bandage for good. She almost became lost in her thoughts as the water continued to beat down on her back, washing away the pain from her mind.

She jumped out of the shower and went to dress. She reached in her closet and found a pair of black pants with red stitching, and straps and chains attached to various buckles. The then pulled out a long-sleeved fishnet top and a black tee shirt that read "You laugh now, but will you be laughing when I crawl out from under your bed?" Sakura went to the mirror and fixed her hair and applied a thick line of gray eyeliner to the bottom and top of her eyes. Satisfied with her appearance, she waited for Hinata. She never had to wait to long, and today was no different. As the horn sounded, she put on her shoes, and went to the car.

The ride to school was thick with tension, neither one wanted to speak. Surprisingly, it was Hinata the broke the silence. "S-S-Sakura-chan?" The pink haired girl looked up at her friend. "Y-Y-You know t-t-that Sasuke will s-s-s-still be your friend r-r-right?"

"Honestly, Hinata? I don't know." After a long pause she continued. "What did he say to you exactly?

"W-w-w-well, he said that h-h-h-he was mad, but h-h-h-he wasn't gonna take it out o-o-on y-y-you. He d-d-doesn't get it r-r-really, but I'm s-s-sure he wont h-h-hurt you." Sakura almost seemed hurt that he was mad, but was still happy knowing that he would still talk to her. It helped, even a little bit, knowing the he wasn't going to hurt her. At least, that's what he said. When they pulled into the parking lot, Sakura froze. He was already waiting for her.

* * *

Neji swore he wasn't going to school today. After last night's events, he could barely move. Although, the truth was that he did not walk into the house until well after midnight. It wouldn't have been so bad, but he had to listen to his uncle's non-stop ranting about him being on drugs. Eventually he gave up on trying to explain and went to bed. 'It still didn't work. Dammit! Why won't he leave my head? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid _fucking_ redhead.' He was just glad he got to sleep in today. Neji rolled back over. He still had another hour before he had to get up.

* * *

Gaara woke up dreading the day. It wouldn't be that bad as long as he could avoid Neji. The outburst in the bathroom yesterday had left him frazzled. Kankurou however kept his promise. He did not inform Temari on what Gaara had done. In fact, he did a pretty good job keeping the whole incident from her completely.

* * *

_Kankurou sat there for a minute, just staring at his little brother. He let out a long sigh and muttered something under his breath. Gaara couldn't quite make it out, but it was somewhere along the lines of "How could this happen?"_

_"All right, little one. How 'bout we get you cleaned up? That way, Temari won't ask any questions."_

_Gaara just nodded his head and followed him up the stairs. He sat on the toilet and removed his shirt. He wanted to leave it on, but the sleeves were too tight to roll up._

_Kankurou began to get everything that he would need to fix up his little brother. He wet a rag with warm water and began to clean off all the newly dried blood._

_"I'm really sorry, Kankurou. I didn't mean to do it. I just didn't have another way out."_

_Kankurou let out a sigh. "Gaara, you always have another way out. Temari and me are here for you. I know it may not seem like it, but we are. I told you. I care about you Gaara. You are my little brother and I really hate seeing you like this."_

_"Yeah, I guess."_

_"What do you mean 'you guess'?" Kankurou gripped tighter onto his arm. "Gaara I'm serious, dammit. I don't want to see this ever again! I love you. Do you get that? I fucking love you! You're my brother. I don't want to see you die!" He was on the verge of tears._

_"I-I-I'm sorry Aniki. Really! I-I-I didn't m-m-mean for it to c-c-c-come out like t-t-that." He was really freaked out. Gaara had never seen that look in his brother's face. He felt the grip tightening on his already injured wrist. "Ow! K-K-K-Kankurou. It hurts. Let go."_

_"I'm sorry Gaara. Please, I am begging you, as a brother. I don't want to see this. Come to me if anything happens, or started to happen. Ok?"_

_"Yeah Kank. I will." With all that said, Kankurou went back to disinfecting the wound with alcohol and bandaged his arm._

_"Alright little one." He had lit up and let a small smile through. "You are all fixed up. No picking until they heal alright?"_

_"Sure thing Aniki. I'm hungry. Can we go get some food?" _

_"Yeah. We can do that. Temari should be coming home for lunch soon. I don't want her to know I picked you up from school. She will wonder what happened, and you don't want her to know. So lets get going."_

_

* * *

_

Kankurou had even called the school so that they wouldn't call home asking what happened, and why Gaara wasn't in class. Gaara had actually gone to him, and had a long talk about everything that happened. Kankurou had actually given him some good advice on what he should do with Neji.

* * *

_"You love him right?"_

_"Yeah. I really think I do."_

_"No Gaara that's not what I asked you. I asked you if you love him, not if you think you love him." Gaara couldn't help but sigh. He didn't see what the difference was. Kankurou seemed to understand this. "Alright. Lets put it this way. What do you want most for Neji?"_

_"I want him to be with me."_

_Kankurou couldn't help but laugh at him. "Gaara think about that again. What do you want most for NEJI? Not you."_

_He let out another sigh. "I want him to be happy. I want him to be happy throughout his entire life. I don't want him to hurt, or be sad like I have. Like I am now."_

_"Even if it's not with you? Could you be happy even if he was not with you? I want an honest answer so don't lie."_

_"Yeah Kank. It hurts that he is not with me, but if I saw him truly happy, I would still be happy for him."_

_"You know what I think?"_

_"What's that Kankurou?"_

_"You really do love him. Don't worry. Let him do his own thing for a while. I promise things will work out the way that they are supposed to. I am not asking you to forget about him, or anything like that. Be his friend if he wants. Just be there if he needs you. If that is going to be to hard for you just be acquaintances with him."_

_"Thanks Kankurou. I will try. I'm sorry for keeping you up. I feel better, I'm going to bed now."_

_"Any time Gaara. Anytime. I mean it: if you ever need me just come wake my lazy ass up."_

_He let a small smile pass through his lips. "Sure thing Aniki."_

_

* * *

_

He was felt a lot better thinking about last night's events. Yesterday there would have been no way that he would have thought about going to school today, but he felt better after his talk with his older brother. He was almost finished getting ready. He pulled a long-sleeved shirt over his head, and walked out the door, grabbing a piece of toast on his way out.

'I already know that I can't be his friend. I will just stay away from him. If he is happy, no mater how much it hurts, I will be happy for him.' He took off down the street on his skateboard. He really didn't feel like walking so he decided to roll his ass to school.

* * *

Sasuke took one look at her, and could do nothing but walk away. He couldn't talk to her right now. He was going to have to wait until later. He was still angry. 'I don't fucking get it. One minute she is all over me, and the next she just wants to be friends. I mean, I did start it last night, but she didn't tell me "no". That look on her face last night showed no form of wanting me to stop, but then she pulls a one-eighty on me. I just don't get it! There has got to be more to this story the Hinata told me last night.' 

Sakura watched as Sasuke walked away.

'He didn't say shit to me. I knew he would be mad, but not this mad.' Sakura grabbed Hinata's arm and walked away.

They finally stopped under a tree. "Hinata, tell me what was said exactly. I want to know the whole conversation between you and Sasuke."

Hinata opened her mouth to speak when a blue-eyed blonde interrupted her. "Good morning!" Both of the girls looked up to Naruto and nodded their replies.

"Ummm... Naruto. I don't mean to be rude, but could you leave Hinata and me alone? I just need to talk to her for a little bit. I promise I will return her." Sakura put on her best happy face.

"Yeah sure thing Sakura-chan. Are you alright?"

She smiled a bit wider to prove her point. "Yeah Naruto. I am fine. You know it's just girl talk."

For once Naruto didn't believe her. "Whatever you say. Hey. Do you know were that bastard went this morning. I still need to talk to him."

Sakura's face instantly lost all happiness. "Yeah Naruto he went over to the benches." Hinata answered for her.

"Thanks. Hinata-chan. You are looking hot as usual." Naruto grinned and walked away.

"Alright Hinata. I want to know everything."

"Well. I didn't have the courage to talk to him over the phone, and I sure as hell couldn't do it in person."

Sakura was confused. "So how did you talk to him?"

"I-I-I In-in-instant messaged him." Hinata barely spoke above a whisper.

"You did what?" Sakura couldn't believe she did that. She figured Hinata would call him up, and tell him. Not over the Internet. Then again, Hinata never really had much of a backbone. Sakura didn't know if she could take the Uchiha's coldness. She knew there was no way her friend could.

"Well y-y-you wanted me to t-t-tell him right? T-t-t-that was the only way I c-c-could."

"Yeah I should have known that. I'm sorry, Hinata, continue."

"Well I told him your past. Everything that happened in Tokyo, he knows. I made sure he knew about what happened with your relationship, and everything that happened. I didn't tell him everything. I just told him what I knew was alright."

"So does he know what Jin does for a living?" Sakura hoped to be the one to tell Sasuke.

"N-N-No I didn't tell him that. Y-y-y-you know Jin sc-sc-scares me."

Sakura let out a small laugh. "Yeah, I know. Thanks Hinata. I swear I don't know what I would do without you sometimes."

"Don't w-w-w-worry about it." Hinata had a small blush.

"Oh yeah, I meant to ask you."

"Hm?"

"What is with you stutter? It just comes and goes as it pleases."

Hinata blushed even deeper. "Naruto said that he liked me when I am aggressive. S-s-s-so I t-try to hide it."

"Ahh, I see. Well good. Someone needs to get through to you. So when are you and him going to get together? Huh?"

"Sakura-chan!" Hinata's face could rival Gaara's hair right now.

Both girls fell over in laughter.

* * *

"Hey Sasuke. What is good?" Naruto practically yelled this down the hall. "Wait up!" 

Sasuke waited for Naruto to catch up to him. "What do you want Naruto?" His voice could have frozen the coldest of people in their place.

"Geeze, bastard. I just wanted to know what was up with you. I mean Sakura looks really sad, and she told me to leave her alone. Hinata is talking to her right now." Naruto brought down his usually playful tone into something more serious.

"I don't know what is wrong with her. I don't really care either way."

"Oh whatever Sasuke. You know you care. I mean, what happened anyways? Yesterday you two actually seemed happy with each other. I know you like her. I already told you that yesterday."

A replay of yesterday's talk with Naruto played back in his head.

_"Hey bastard. Did you have fun with Sakura?" _

_"I have no idea what you are talking about, Naruto. Me and Sakura are friends."_

_"Yeah, right. I saw the way you looked when you came downstairs. Both of you were disheveled, and Sakura looked very pissed for the interruption."_

_"You know what? You really are an idiot sometimes." Before Naruto could come back with a comment, Sasuke continued. "You can pick up on the tiniest things in other peoples relationships, but you yourself can't see what is so blatantly in front of your face."_

_" So you do have a relationship with -- Huh what the hell are you talking about Sasuke?" _

_"I'm talking about Hin--"_

_"Umm, boys, food's ready. Would you please come sit down? I'm afraid you won't be able to eat in the living room. Sorry, but I don't trust you."_

"I swear Naruto, sometimes you just need to leave things alone."

"Yeah bastard I know I should, but would I be me if I did?" Naruto put on his best smile to please the Uchiha boy. He still wanted answers from him.

Sasuke let out a long sigh. Naruto was his best friend and if he couldn't tell him, then whom could he tell? "Alright, I'll tell you. I don't want you to breathe a word of this to anyone. If you do, I will kill you."

"I knew it! You do have a soft spot for her."

Sasuke looked like he was about to explode from anger. "Look, you ass. Do you want to know or not?"

"You know I do. I don't want a single detail left out."

"God you're such a pervert sometimes, Naruto." Sasuke shook his head before he continued. "Well, while you were out with Hinata, me and Sakura kissed. That's it. You interrupted us before anything else happened."

Naruto looked a little disheartened at this news.

"Well after we all went home, Hinata started talking to me on-line. She told me that Sakura didn't want anything else to happen with her and me. She just wants us to stay friends."

"Well..." Naruto thought for a minute before he continued. "Why didn't she just tell you herself?"

Sasuke was shocked. For once in his life Naruto actually understood where he was coming from. "See, that's what I didn't understand. I mean, Hinata just informed me on Sakura's past, and why she didn't want her and me to go any further than friendship. I still think that something is not being said."

"Have you talked to Sakura at least? She would know her past and her reasons better then anyone would. No offence to Hinata, but she is not Sakura. She might not know all the reasons."

"You know what Naruto? For once in your life, you actually make sense." Sasuke let out a small laugh. "Well, I will talk to her later. It is a conversation that will just be between me and her."

"Ok. Just don't you hurt her, I swear, I think she has gone through more then we will ever know. Hey, lets go back to the girls." Naruto turned to walk away, and Sasuke followed.

They both walked outside to find their friends laughing, and still rolling on the ground. "Hey, let's come back later. She looks happy with Hinata right now. Let's give them time to themselves. What do you say?" Naruto let out a small smile.

"Okay what have you done with the real Naruto?" Sasuke looked over at his friend in disbelief.

"What, they're happy! I don't want your ass to go ruin Sakura-chan's good mood." Naruto let his smile grow wider.

"Hn. Whatever. For a minute there you got a little too serious for me. Don't do it again." Sasuke and Naruto turned to walk back into the building, and into the courtyard.

* * *

It seemed that everyone was together for the first block. Well, except for Naruto. It was advanced math. Sakura took note of the teacher the minute she entered the room. 'Eww. He looks like a child molester.' She shuddered and her and Hinata took a seat beside one another. "Hey, Hinata. Where is Naruto?" 

Before she had a chance to answer Sasuke did it for her. "You should know by now that Naruto isn't all that smart, Sakura." She turned around, but Sasuke was just staring out the window.

'Well at least he spoke to me.'

Class went on with the boring lesson. Sakura found out that she really didn't miss much when she was gone. It was only one day, but this was advanced math. The teacher who asked to be called Orochimaru went on with his lecture. Sakura looked around and saw that everyone around her felt the same way she did, this man was creepy. His long black hair did nothing to deter the image of death that seemed to surround him. She was so happy when the bell finally rang.

'Yes. I have been waiting for art class. I was so upset that I missed it last time. I hope the teacher is cool. What am I thinking? It's art. Of course the teacher is cool.'

Sakura was brought out of her musings when she remembered that she didn't know where the art room was. She looked around, but could not find anybody she knew. At that very moment a splash of red amongst the sea of browns and blacks caught her eye. "Gaara." She yelled hoping to get his attention. He turned around wondering who the hell called him.

It was a female that's for sure. He didn't know any females besides Hinata, and she would never yell out for him. He finally understood when he saw pink come into his view.

"Hey, Gaara. Do you know where that art room is? I missed my classes because I wasn't here the other day, and I just remembered that I never asked anybody where it was at."

He nodded his reply and turned around to continue walking. Sakura followed. "Well now that I know that you know, do you mind telling me?"

He let out a sigh before turning around. "I have art next. I assumed that you would just follow me."

"Oh. Ok." Sakura felt very stupid at that moment and trailed behind the redhead. "Hey Gaara, is anybody else I know in that class?"

"Yeah. Neji is in it, and that blond girl Ino that doesn't like you."

"Dammit. I really don't want to put up with her for a whole year. Is her work any good?"

Gaara let out a small laugh. "No she's not. The only reason she joined that class is because Sasuke takes art."

"But you didn't say Sasuke was in our class." Sakura was confused.

"He's not. He decided to take music theory this year instead of art." Sakura let out a small 'ohh' before falling silent. Right before they walked in Sakura pulled Gaara back.

"Do you mind if I sit next to you? I don't know anybody, and I don't want to sit beside Neji. He kind of scares me." She started to look down at her shoes. She was almost ashamed to admit that she was scared of the Hyuuga.

Gaara was almost taken aback by her question. "I don't scare you? That's funny, most people call me a freak, and wouldn't dare sit next to me."

"Really?" Sakura couldn't believe her ears. I mean sure he seemed kind of out there sometimes, and he was really quiet. In fact, Sakura couldn't believe he was talking to her this much. "I don't find you scary, just interesting."

"Yeah I don't care. I don't talk much. So don't expect me to." She nodded her head in understanding, and followed him inside. She stopped by the teacher's desk to drop off all of her paperwork.

"I'm sorry sensei. I was sick last class period and could not make it. I am Haruno Sakura."

"Ahh. So you are the new student. Welcome." He spoke in between puffs of his cigarette. "Just call me Asuma." With that she nodded and went to go take her seat beside Gaara.

Sakura took out he sketch pad and began to finish up one of her drawings that she had been working on before her move. Asuma had given them free time as long as they remained quiet. The picture was a morbid one. A beautiful woman sat there holding her child as the scene around her burned up in flames. Gaara happened to glance over at her artwork. "You're actually really good. That's a first most of the girls are in here to watch Sasuke."

Sakura let out a laugh. "Thanks. It really means a lot to me. I don't mean to bring this up, and I know that you two aren't together anymore" Gaara's face had hardened in an instant. "What is with you and Neji?"

"I would rather not talk about it." He reached down and picked up a book from his bag. Unconsciously he glanced over at the brunette. He was sitting with Deidara. He couldn't help but cringe as the blonde ran his hand up Neji's thigh.

What does he think he is doing? That was Neji. That was his Neji. It then dawned on Gaara what he had been thinking. 'That's right, _was._' He sighed and started to work on something new.

Before they knew it class was over and it was time to move on. Sakura couldn't help but feel guilty for her earlier statement. "Hey Gaara." She stopped him before he left. "Look, I am sorry." She cut herself off when she saw Deidara pull Neji into an embrace and start to kiss him. At that moment Gaara turned around.

'God, I don't need to see this.' He let out and exasperated sigh.

"Don't worry about it." With that he left the room as fast as he could. He wanted to see Neji happy, but it didn't mean that he wanted to watch him make out with someone else.

Sakura made her way into government and took her seat the Sasuke. She gave a slight smile to him. He took notice, but did not reply. She let out a small sigh. She still wanted Sasuke as a friend, but after what happened in Tokyo, she didn't think she could trust anyone else with her heart. They needed to sort things out, and badly.

Iruka walked into class and everyone settled down. "Ok good morning. I want to welcome you all back to class." Random groans could be heard throughout the class. Iruka just smiled. "Once again I do not have anything planed for you today except passing out some more papers, and taking up last class paperwork. It will count for a homework grade. If you don't have it, it's a zero." More groans.

The teacher called up Sakura to check her work, and give her some more papers. When she took a seat at her desk she noticed a note. _'We need to talk.' _She scribbled down something and gave it back to Sasuke.

_**'Yeah. We do.'**_

_'Meet me on the roof after this class. I know you have lunch with me. You remember how to get there right?'_

_**'Yeah. I do.'**_

More paperwork was explained, as well as the layout for the year. 'Well, this will be an easy A...' Just then, the bell rang. She looked up and found that Sasuke had already left. Sakura packed up her things and made her way to the roof. As she opened the door, the wind whipped hair into her face. As she pulled the strands away from her vision, she saw him. Sasuke was standing there waiting for her, a look of complete seriousness on his face.

"Sasuke, let's talk."

He let a slight smile slide onto his face. "No, _you_ need to talk. I'll listen."

* * *

Junsui Kegasu's BETA Notes: Dude, you said this ending sucked! It didn't! It was _cool!_ Ahh, okay, I best get back to Haunted…I swear, one day I'll finish it…one day… And to all you reviewers out there, HEY, I'M ADVERTISING MY STUFF! GO READ IT BEFORE MY MODESTY COMES BACK AND I DELETE THIS MESSAGE! 

A/N: Yeah I am advertising her work to! It's some good shit. Everyone should read it! I really didn't like the way this ending turned out. Oh yeah I am so sorry this took so long!All I gotta say is Nekocon. I had to getso much stuff together. I had a blast. Well... minus some confrontations there.

Oh yeah thank you to all my reviewers! I don't have the energy for replies today. If you want one feel free to email me and i will answer them as best as I can.


	8. Warm Air Floats

Disclaimer: I do own Naruto...sigh...Only in my dreams.

A/N: Ack! I am so sorry the last chapter took so long. I am having major difficulties with this story right now. There are so many places that this can go. Oh yes and I must not forget to thank my wonderful BETA Junsui Kegasu. (sigh) Haunted is now done, but more work is to come! GO JK!

Last time:

More paperwork was explained, as well as the layout for the year. 'Well, this will be an easy A...' Just then, the bell rang. She looked up and found that Sasuke had already left. Sakura packed up her things and made her way to the roof. As she opened the door, the wind whipped hair into her face. As she pulled the strands away from her vision, she saw him. Sasuke was standing there waiting for her, a look of complete seriousness on his face.

"Sasuke, let's talk."

He let a slight smile slide onto his face. "No, _you_ need to talk. I'll listen."

* * *

Chapter 8: Warm Air Floats

Sakura let out a big sigh. She honestly didn't know where to start. Finally after a long silence, she spoke. "Ok well. I am having trouble on where to start. Can you just ask random questions?" She looked like a drowned cat: so pathetic; so weak.

"Alright." A look of relief washed over Sakura's face, but it did not last long. "If you just wanted to remain friends, why didn't you push me off of you? You just let me do what I wanted. If I am right, it would have gone further if Naruto and Hinata hadn't shown up."

"Yeah, you are right on that one. I don't know." She looked down at her lap. "I really want to be with you, but I can't."

"Why?" Sasuke didn't understand. She wanted to be with him, but she wouldn't. It didn't make sense to him.

"I can't." She looked like she was about to snap. "You have no idea what I have been through before I came here. In fact, you have no idea the power that, that, that thing has."

"Enlighten me Sakura. Tell me everything. I got a little bit from Hinata, but I want the whole story from you." He lowered his voice. The seriousness of his tone did not go unnoticed.

"Please do not think any less of me by telling you this." Sasuke shook his head in understanding. Sakura began to tell her tale. "After my mother died, I became so depressed. She was everything to me. She was all I had left. No one could talk to me, not even Hinata. All she could do was watch me drift away. That all changed when I met him. His name was Mirai. He was the only person I felt that could relate to me. He helped me when no one else could." Her breath hitched as she started to remember her painful past. "Hey, Sasuke. You don't know what Jin does for a living do you?"

"No." Sasuke shook his head.

"Well, it is common knowledge around Tokyo. It will be here soon." She sighed once again, and continued with her story. "Jin is the top drug runner in Tokyo." Sasuke looked at her with a "you aren't serious" look. Sakura read his mind. "I am dead serious. I am a mafia princess in a sort. Mirai knew that, most guys knew that, but would never think about approaching me. He came to me and offered nothing but condolence for me. I fell for him, and I fell hard. He was everything to me. What I didn't know was that he just used me to get into Jin's good graces. Mirai wanted to be part of the company so badly. He didn't care how he got there." Sakura was on the verge of tears.

Sasuke put his arm around her. She shrunk back at the gesture. "Please don't touch me. I am not what you think I am."

He put her at arms length. "And why do you think that?"

"I'm dirty. I am a whore. I am damaged goods. Why would you want me?"

"You think you are dirty because you made a mistake? That doesn't make you a whore because you placed your faith in someone that you thought you could trust." Sasuke was getting quite angry at her comments. He didn't understand why she would think that she was a whore.

"You don't get it, do you?" Sakura was now crying. "I have made more then a few mistakes when it came to that relationship. Everything started off so good. He was everything to me, and in the end I was left a mere shadow of my former self, and he got what he wanted. Yeah, that's right. He got his spot in the company." Sakura shook her head. "There I was left, with my heart torn out, and a needle in my arm. I know Hinata told you that part. I will never admit it to her, but I know she knows. Do you see what I got for trusting people? I got hooked. I couldn't even pull myself out of it. That is why I cling to Hinata. She was and still is my only lifeline."

"I can understand that, but that still doesn't explain why you did what you did. Yeah, ok. Some asshole hurt you, badly, but I am not him. I am not him in any way. What makes you think I would do that?" Sasuke couldn't believe that he was saying this to her. He was genuinely concerned with her well being.

"No you don't get it! I can't do that again. The next time that happens I wont exist anymore. Look at what I have done to myself!" She lifted up her sleeve to reveal her marred arm. Sasuke couldn't even count the scars that were present. Mostly just small punctures but there were two on each arm that caught his eyes.

"What is that from?" Shock was written all over his face.

"That, my dear Sasuke-_kun_, is what happened after the break up. I got so unbelievably high one night, and just wanted to see how much I could bleed before I passed out." Bitterness dripped from her voice. "If Jin hadn't found me when he did, I would have been dead. I still wished he would have just left me there."

"What the hell? Do you have any idea how much that would have hurt other people?" Sasuke was now yelling at her.

"Ha! I would have hurt other people, Sasuke? What about me? Do you think I like going home every night and being beaten? Do you think I enjoy being molested? I know I can't go to the police. They would laugh at me and turn me away. And when I got home and that thing found out, do you know what would happen? He would beat me again. He would beat me into unconsciousness. He has done it before, and I will not put it past him to do it again. I want to die Sasuke. No one would miss me. No one."

"Sakura..." Sasuke did know where to go with this. He saw her pain, but he never thought it would be like this. "People care about you. What about Hinata? You have no idea how she talked about you before you showed up here. She would miss you terribly."

"Hinata...I truly love her, but that is just one person. She is the only person I have left that didn't fuck me over. Even she left me. I don't have anybody else. No one would care if I were gone. Hinata wouldn't even know if I never had to move. She would have just thought I didn't want to talk to her anymore. There would have been no way for her to know if I died."

"Sakura. Do you honestly think I would be up here right now if I didn't care? You have heard the rumors about me, I am sure. Do I or did I sound like the type of person that would listen to all this if I didn't care"

Sakura let out a small laugh. "No. I guess not. You would have probably just said 'hn' and walked away."

"Please don't think like that. You have people that care. You have Hinata first and foremost, and then there is me and Naruto. Hell, even Neji likes you. I mean he doesn't know you that well, but you are a friend of his cousin's."

"Yeah, but still I feel so alone most of the time. I have friends, but my heart hurts, and I don't want to be alone anymore. As much as I hate to be alone, being hurt is worse. That's what I want you to see. I can't be hurt anymore."

Sasuke felt so bad for being upset with her. "Alright, Sakura. If you want us to be friends, we can do that. I can do that, but just for you. Okay?"

"Thank you, Sasuke." She wrapped her arms around him, and whispered. "Thank you so much."

"Don't worry about it." He embraced her back.

"What? No 'hn'?" Both looked at each other and started to laugh.

'Sakura, please keep laughing,' Sasuke thought as he led her off the roof.

* * *

Gaara kept pacing down the empty hall way. To say the least, he was fuming. 'Why am I so mad?' He let a small laugh pass through his lips. The realization had dawned on him. He was jealous. It was even funny for him to think that. Gaara had never been possessive. He had never really been much of anything in anyone's eyes, except for him. Neji saw him as everything, and now once again he was nothing.

He let out another sigh. It had been over an hour of him pacing the halls, and he still was not cool enough to go inside a classroom. He breaths became more ragged. 'No. I don't need this.' Images of his relationship passed into his head.

_"Gaara. What do you want for your birthday?" Neji said leaning into him._

_"What? You remembered my birthday?" He was shocked; no one ever remembered his birthday. Sometimes Kankurou and Temari would have a small party, but no one else._

_Neji looked down at his boyfriend, confused. "Yeah... Why wouldn't I remember?"_

_"Dunno." He said with a shrug. "No one else seems to."_

_Neji turned his head up to face him. Gaara couldn't do anything but stare into those pale eyes. "I know what I will get you." He said. The small smirk did not go unnoticed._

_Gaara raised an eyebrow at the older boy that resided on his lap. "What?"_

_Neji leaned down and brushed their lips together. "Me." Was all Gaara could make out, before being completely taken over by Neji._

Gaara leaned over the sink, trying to catch his breath. "No. Stop. Go away." His breath started to calm as the memory faded. "I didn't want it to be like this. I just wanted to be happy." He slunk down and heard footsteps enter the bathroom. "For him." He closed his eyes, and waited for his breathing to return to normal.

"For who?"

'Dammit. Why do I keep running into him.' Both boys thought, looking into each other's eyes.

"Huh?" Gaara was still in a daze.

"You said 'for him.' Who's him?" Neji stared down at the small boy. He never realized it, but Gaara looked so small huddled up in the corner.

Gaara got up and splashed some water on his cheeks, careful not to upset the eyeliner surrounding his eyes. As he was walking out he turned to face his ex, "You," and with that he walked out.

Neji was left in the wake of his words. 'Why did he mean by that? Was it just me, or was he actually smiling when he looked at me? His whole face just seemed to be at peace. Argh! Why do I keep thinking about him? I am with Deidara; well I'm fucking him at least. I wouldn't call us a couple.'

Neji washed his hands. "I need to forget." With that, he set off to find his partner.

* * *

It was the last class of the day, and Sakura took her seat beside Hinata. Both looked at each other before letting a small smile pass between them.

'Everything will be alright,' both of them thought, as they got ready for today's lesson.

Sakura couldn't help but stare at her new teacher. She seemed so familiar, but where had she seen her before? That long blond hair, that chest, not to sound perverted, but that amount would be hard to forget. Most of all it was those eyes. She knew that she had seen her somewhere before, but where?

Unlike most of her classes, Tsunade's held true to its title. This really was _advanced_ healing. Sakura had already missed so much on her first day. Thankfully, she had Hinata, who had taken the liberty to rewrite all of her notes so Sakura would have her own copy.

Tsunade didn't even recognize that she had a new student in her class, and kept on with her teaching. For once, Sakura was happy that this teacher wasn't boring. She didn't seem that enthusiastic to be teaching, but her dry sense of humor was more then enough to keep it entertaining.

She almost felt bad for the teacher when one of the hormonal boys was caught ogling her rather large chest. Within five seconds of catching him, she stopped her lesson, verbally castrated him, and continued on with her lesson. Sakura could do nothing but watch in amazement.

Hinata really wanted to check on her friend, to make sure everything was ok with her and Sasuke. At the rate Tsunade was going, that didn't look like it was going to happen. Hinata would have to wait until after class to get her answers. Every now and then she would take a glance at her pink haired friend. She looked happy enough.

Sakura couldn't believe this class. She looked over the curriculum again; there wasn't one thing that this teacher didn't have covered.

"Okay class. Now I am going to need you to study this material, and you will have a quiz next class period. I realize the bell is going to ring soon, so pack up."

With those last few words everyone began to pack. The slamming of books, and mindless chatter filled the room. Sakura could barely make out the weak voice beside her. "Sakura, What happened? Did you get a chance to talk to him?" Concern was all that could be made out in her face.

"Yeah, me and Sasuke talked, and everything is cool. Don't worry, Hinata. Did you think I was going to come here and break up the group?" Sakura let out a small laugh.

"N-N-No! I just--"

"Haruno Sakura! Please see me see me before you leave this class."

"Yes, sensei." Just then the bell rang. "Hey, Hinata. Wait for me outside by the tree. I will be there as soon as I am done talking, alright?" Hinata gave a small nod before retreating out of the class room.

Sakura walked up to Tsunade's desk. "You wanted to speak with me?"

"Yes. Miss Haruno--"

"Sakura is just fine, sensei. I don't believe that there is any need for formalities here."

Tsunade looked up into her students face. "No, I guess there aren't. Do you even remember me?"

"You look so familer, but I cannot remember where, or why."

"Maybe this will help." Tsunade began to take out the tie that held her blond hair on top of her head. It flowed right past her shoulder blades.

Now she remembered. Tsunade had been a part of the company. She couldn't remember much about her. She had left shortly after her mom had died. Sakura remembered a few visits where the blond would come play with her. "How the hell did you get out without being killed?"

"We will just say that Jin owes me a really big favor, and he let me out because of it. I did so much dirty work for that organization. He really didn't have a choice in the matter."

Sakura couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "That whole thing is nothing but dirty work, and you know it."

"I see my innocent Sakura-chan is no more then."

"As I remember it used to be 'Sakura-sama', but then you are no longer part of the company." Sakura waved her off with a hand. "To tell you the truth I never cared to the -sama part anyways."

"I just wanted to let you know. If you need anything, I can help. I may not belong to the company, but I still have my inside contacts, and I know exactly what is going on. If you need anything, I will help the best way I know how."

"Thanks. But how about we just stick with the student, teacher relationship. I have a feeling you class will be enough to keep me on my toes." Both women laughed. "Now if you excuse me, Hinata is waiting for me."

"Dismissed." Tsunade lie down on her desk, and decided to take a nap.

Sakura went outside to meet up with her friend. Hinata was sitting under the tree with an obviously tired Naruto in her lap. Sakura couldn't help but laugh at the situation. Hinata's face was priceless, and Sakura even thought she stopped breathing for a minute.

"Hey Hinata. Sorry that took so long." Sakura knelt down to her friend.

"It's ok. What did she want to talk to you about anyways?"

"Oh nothing. Just what I had missed last class. You know, the usual." Sakura turned her attention to the blond that was residing in her best friend's lap. "Hey Naruto, are you comfortable?"

"Very." He snuggled closer into Hinata's lap, and wrapped an arm around her waist.

The moment of silence was brought to an end when Sasuke decided to wake him up. Standing behind Sakura, he took a paper ball and hit Naruto right in the face.

"Hey! What the hell was that for?" Naruto jolted out of Hinata's lap, and stood facing his friend.

Sasuke shrugged. "I thought you would want to wake up. School's over, let's go home."

"Dammit Sasuke. I was comfortable. Why couldn't you just let me stay there? Hinata didn't seem to mind." Sasuke couldn't help but laugh back in the blonde's face. This only further pissed Naruto off. "I should kick your ass right now!"

"Well, now, a violent inferior, are we? Not only are you attempting to engender the illusion that you have some form of intelligence scattered in that vacancy you call a brain, but you are imposing violent acts on society." With that said, Sasuke turned away.

Naruto didn't know whether to be pissed or confused at what had just transpired. In the end he let it go. Helping Hinata up Naruto had an idea. "Hey, let's do something fun tonight. I mean, the weekend does officially start today."

"Well, I don't know of anything that will be happening. I didn't hear about any parties."

"That's because it's the first week of school. No one has the time to throw a party." Everyone jumped at the new voice intruding in on their conversation.

"Shit. Gaara couldn't you announce to people when you come up? That pop up thing is rather unsettling." Naruto shook his head. "So what do _you_ propose we do?"

Gaara looked down for a minute. "I think Kankurou has a job tonight. I will call you, and let you know when I get home, alright?"

Naruto jumped up and down, while the two girls settled for a smile and a small thanks. "Shouldn't we tell Sasuke? I feel bad just leaving him out of this weekend." Sakura stated absent-mindedly.

"Well, just call that bastard when we find out what is going on, and let him know."

Sakura nodded her head. "Alright, let's go home."

* * *

Sakura had just gotten off the phone with Hinata. Gaara's brother did have a job tonight. From what Sakura could understand, he did some free lance bouncing at certain clubs here. Now she had to call Sasuke.

Sakura quickly dialed the number on her cell phone, and waited for an answer. It was already the fifth ring and no one had answered. Just when she was about to hang up, a voice picked up.

"Hello?"

'Wow, ok. He sounds really pissed.' Sakura thought.

"Oh hey Sasuke. Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"Huh? Um... No. Did you need something?" Sasuke had calmed down a little bit.

"Well it seems that Gaara's brother is working tonight, so Gaara invited us to go to the club. I was just calling to let you know. I mean, in case you wanted to go."

Silence graced the other end for a moment. "Sure. I need to get out. Maybe even have a little drink."

"Alright. I will see you at the club." Sakura proceed to give him directions, but she was cut off.

"Sakura."

"Huh? What?"

"I will pick you up at eight."

"Um. Ok."

With that the line went dead. It was four o'clock. Sakura had plenty of time to get ready. For once in her life she actually had time to relax. Little did she know, this feeling was only fleeting.

* * *

Several men sat around in a dark room, conversing on things to come, and future plans of their organization.

"So. Does she know anything that is being prepared for her?"

"Not a clue. She isn't quite of age yet, but when she is, you will be the first to welcome her." A man with red eyes gazed at his fellow comrades.

"Yes Jin-san. Sakura is in for a real treat with me." A look of pure evil crossed the face of a man with raven hair.

"Poor Sakura. She has no idea what she is in for. Does she Itachi?"

(A/n: I sooooooo want to leave it here, but I wont.)

* * *

Sakura called up Hinata to let her know that Sasuke was coming to get her, and she would see her there. They had a long talk about the Uchiha, and what was going on between them. Hinata was satisfied that he would not hurt her friend. In the end Hinata told her even if he did hurt Sakura, she would always be there for her no matter what.

Sakura let the words replay in her mind as the water ran over her body. Sasuke had finally deemed it safe to take off the bandage. He just told her to be careful when she was washing, and brushing her hair.

'Well, yeah, my life is pretty bad, but I still have friends. Hell, Jin has done everything to me that he possibly could. As long as I can obey him somewhat, I wont have my friends put in danger.'

She looked at the clock after exiting the shower. It read seven. 'All right, I have one hour, that's plenty of time to get ready.'

Sakura went to her closet and pulled out a pair of black shorts. She was never complete with out something fishnet, so a pair of tights was put on underneath that. She then took out a dress shirt - well what was left of it. Apparently, it had been slashed and torn in strategic places. The sleeves were shredded, the back had three long slashes, and there was two on the front, one on her stomach and the other was right above her chest.

Sakura went to her mirror and pulled her hair up into two half pony tails, and spiked them. It was rather hard to do with her hair considering the lack of hair she had in the middle of her head, because of Sasuke's little hair cut. She finished doing her makeup, which consisted of some black eyeliner. It was drawn on thick and smudged.

Sakura looked at her clock again, and decided to lie down until her ride got there. The next thing she knew, there was a hand cross her mouth, and an arm around the back of her waist, lifting her off the bed.

She opened her eyes in shock.

* * *

_**A/N: **Wow... OK yeah blah, this took forever. I didn't want to leave it here, but I did. So, blah to you to. Yeah ok I am really tired now. Now it is time for responses! On another note congratulations to JK. Both Haunted, and Lost and Found are done. Go read them. They are the best!_

_**JK: **yeah I feel slow now. Hehehe. You have finished up both Haunted, and LaF before I got this to ya. Damn your speediness. I hope our email doesn't eat this chapter before I get it back. Hehehe_

_**Sessome Yamato:** That "guy" was me. I hated the way the ending turned out for that chapter. Oh yeah and I'm a female. JK just commented on it because, I had been talking to her about how much I hated it._

_**Tank: **Yeah Naruto is a dense one. And he will continue to be that way._

_**Sakura Girl 2005: **Thank you so much. I was actually stuck in one spot for a long time. Then I get here and saw your reviews and got on a typing storm. I answered a little bit about the guy in Tokyo. Yeah feel so bad for Gaara too. (glomps) Don't worry I like honest opinions. You can't offend me, so don't worry about it. _

_**MC: **You never disappoint me with your reviews either. Yeah I know I used my shirt in my story... so what. Thank ya! Thank ya!_

_**Crazyabutsasuke: **Thank-you so much, your review made me smile. Yeah I know it is rare, if not unhured of to have a Yaoi pairing with Sasusaku. In my true fashion I dont care. Hehehe. Thank you for understanding that it is my desision in the end. I am glade you like it. I hope to hear more from you in later chapters._

_And thank yous to the following:** sasukefurever, Fiona Mckinnon, astarigitloh, Johnnynotsid, serpentslayer**, and **Shinobi Darkbeak.** If I forgot anybody, Please don't kill me! I swear its just cuz I am tired. It is five thirty in the morning! _

_**Junsui Kegasu's BETA notes: **Yosh. Thank god this story is still going…god knows how I need something to do…(BAWL) I'M A WRECK WITHOUT WRITING!_


	9. A Brother's Interferance

A/N: Yay! Look how fast I did this. I was proud of myself for this one. I do realize that I am evil, but ya'll love me anyways. Right?... chirp chirp ... Anyways Thank you as always to my wonderful BETA Junsui Kegasu. Yay for her and her wonderful skills of editing!

Disclaimer: I have checked my bank statment... that should be proof enough that I don't own Naruto... Damn... I just might kidnap Gaara and Kankurou... just for the hell of it...(shiffty eyes)

I am tired of writing warnings... but actually this story needs one. There is some lemony goodness at the end of this chapter, oh yeah it's Yaoi too. If you don't like it don't read it. I have warned you!

* * *

Last time:

Sakura went to her mirror and pulled her hair up into two half pony tails and spiked them. It was rather hard to do with her hair considering the lack of hair she had in the middle of her head because of Sasuke's little hair cut. She finished doing her makeup, which consisted of some black eyeliner. It was drawn on thick and smudged.

Sakura looked at her clock again, and decided to lie down until her ride got there. The next thing she knew, there was a hand across her mouth, and an arm around the back of her waist, lifting her off the bed.

She opened her eyes in shock.

* * *

Chapter 9: A Brother's Interference

"Where the hell are they?" Naruto fumed while stomping back and forth. "Hey, Hinata, are you sure that bastard is picking her up?" Naruto had grabbed hold of both of her shoulders and was mere inches from her face.

"Yes, N-Naruto. Sakura said t-t-that he was coming to get her."

Gaara looked on with mild amusement until a voice broke him out of his thoughts. "Hey, little one, are you and your friends coming in, or not?"

"For the last time, my name is Gaara. Not 'little one.'" He glared back into the painted face of his older brother.

Kankurou rolled his eyes in response. "Yes, Gaara-_sama_.

Now... Are you and your friends coming, or not? I do want to take a break sometime tonight, and I can't do that while I am waiting for you all to come in."

"Aniki," Gaara let out a brief sigh. "you have been working a total of twenty minutes. I know you don't need to take a break now."

"You are right, my little one, but my work is oh, so stressful! I think I may need to sit." Kankurou pretended to pass out against the wall.

"Alright, alright, we will just go in now. When Sasuke and Sakura get here, will you let them in?"

"Yes, sir." Kankurou gave Gaara a salute as he and his friends entered the club.

Hinata took one last glance back before entering the club.

'I hope Sakura is all right.'

* * *

Sakura's scream was muffled by the hand placed firmly over her mouth.

'No, it can't be! He said he would be gone for at least a month! It hasn't even been a week.' She closed her eyes tightly. 'I don't want to look into those horrible red eyes, and that black hair... I can't stand it... Wait, black hair? Jin doesn't have black hair...'

She cracked her eyes open again to find herself facing the one and only Uchiha Sasuke. Her ragged breathing slowly returned to normal. He cautiously lifted his hand away from her mouth "God fucking dammit! Shit, Sasuke, you almost killed me!"

The ebony haired boy quickly found it to be a mistake and replaced his hand back over her mouth. "Shh. You are going to have the neighbors becoming suspicious." He let the famous smirk cross his face. "Come on, sweetheart. I didn't scare you that bad."

Sakura glared back, and answered with muffled words.

"Alright. I have no clue what you just said. If I take my hand away, will you not yell at me?" Sakura nodded. "Alright." Sasuke let his hand slip from her mouth.

"Why couldn't you just wake me up? Did you really have to do that? Do you have any idea who I thought you were?" Sakura paused to breathe. "And what is with those contacts anyways?" Her anger slowly became curiosity as she stared him down.

"Huh? Oh, just some costume contacts. I thought they would be interesting for tonight." Sasuke gave off a small shrug.

"Oh. Well, now that you have scared me to death and back again, can we go? I am sure Naruto has already caused some form of destruction." Sasuke helped her off the bed, and they made their way to the car. The drive was rather quick, and they reached the club in about ten minutes. Sakura was getting out of the car when Sasuke pulled her back down. "Wait. You can't go in yet."

Sakura sat back down. "And why not?"

"You need these." Sasuke handed over a small package that Sakura began to tear open.

"Glowsticks? What do I need glowsticks for?"

Sasuke didn't answer, and proceeded to get out of the car.

"Sasuke! What do I need glowsticks for?" Sakura got out, and stood in front of him.

Once again, that all knowing smirk came to play on his face. "I just want to see if you can play with the rest of us, my dear Sakura-chan." With that said, he cracked two onto his leg and began walking to the club. "Hey, Kankurou, where is everyone else?"

"Hn. You and your date are late, Uchiha. My little brother and the rest of his friends are already inside." Kankurou waved both of them in. "Oh, yeah. Just in case you want to drink." He took out two blue wrist bands and hooked them around their arms. "There. Now you can go in."

* * *

Neji took his bike out to get some fresh air. Deidara and him couldn't have plans until later on that evening. It seemed that he was having some old company over, and Neji was not welcomed to this meeting. Not that Neji cared all that much. Regardless of what the blond boy thought, they were just fucking. Neji was just using him to get what he needed and wanted, which was to forget about Gaara.

At a red light, the loud noise of techno could be heard booming out of the club. 'Well, I don't have anything better to do. I might as well go in and drink a little bit; maybe I'll dance too.'

Neji parked his bike and made his way to the club's front door. He froze for a moment, staring at the bouncer. 'There is no way he is going to let me in. Not after what I pulled with Gaara. Maybe he doesn't know.' Neji scratched that thought rather quickly. The scowl on Kankurou's face, even with all the kabuki face paint, was very easy to read.

"What do you want, kid?" Kankurou tried to hide the anger in his voice.

"I just wanted to get in. Is that a crime? You know I'm eighteen, so I don't really see a problem."

Kankurou just stared him down for a minute. He had always liked Neji for his straightforward attitude. To say the least, Neji had treated Gaara very well when they were together. Now it was different. Now, because of him, Gaara was suffering. He got an idea to form in his twisted head. "Yeah. Sure, you can go in. Did you want to drink?" Kankurou held out the blue wrist bands in front of him.

"Um, yeah, actually, I do." Neji was kind of taken aback as to his ex's older brother's treatment.

Kankurou wordlessly snapped the bracelet on and opened the door to the club. 'That is just was that boy needs. A good drink, and maybe he will realize what he is missing. If not that, maybe he will at least talk to Gaara, and get things started on the right track.'

Neji made his way in and took a seat beside the bar. He told the bartender to bring him two shots. 'I don't really feel like dancing, so I will just drink until I pass out. I won't--' Before his thought process was complete, he spotted the redhead across the room.

"Gaara." It came out as a small whisper. Neji looked up to find both shots siting in front of him, and downed them both very quickly. He shook his head to clear his mind, but his eyes just came back to focusing on the same person.

"Did you want anything else, or will that be it for tonight?" The bartender looked at him curiously.

"Oh. Um... Give me a Long Island." Neji waved him off and continued staring down Gaara. Once his drink made it to his hand, he walked over to a dark corner, and took a seat in one of the booths.

* * *

The techno beat throbbed through the speakers. Sakura had proved to Sasuke that she could indeed "play with the rest of them." One song would end, and another began. Sakura didn't seem to miss a beat in between each songs.

Sasuke stood back and watched her hips sway to the music as the neon sticks created colored circles around her body. He almost lost himself in her rapid movements before Naruto tapped him on the back.

"You might wanna stop staring so hard. Those glow sticks will be the death of you." Naruto gave a smile and turned around to dance with Hinata.

Sasuke was embarrassed that he had been caught in such a dumbfounded state, especially by Naruto. Now fully pissed that he was caught, he made his way to his booth to finish his drink.

The next song finally ended and Sakura made her way over to Sasuke. "Hey, Sasuke, why are you sitting here all by yourself? I thought you were "the best." Aren't you supposed to show me up?" she giggled while taking her seat.

"Hn." He took another sip of his drink, and ushered over the waitress for another one.

"Oh, god, are we going to be on the 'hn' thing all night? Come on, dance with me!" Sakura put on her best pout.

"No, not right now, Sakura. I need to relax for a little bit. I promise I will dance with you later."

Sakura shrugged and walked off. Unfortunately, Gaara got in her path. She grabbed him by the wrist and turned him around. "You are going to dance with me."

Gaara couldn't do anything and was brought back to the dance floor. Both danced among friends and talked for a little bit in between the breaks of the songs. One person, however, thought that their closeness was sickening.

Neji sat in the booth fuming. How could Gaara be doing that, with a girl, nonetheless? Neji had half a mind to rip that pink bitch off of him. How dare she put her hands on him like that? He watched on, seething, barely controlling his emotions right now. 'One false move from her, and I--'

He stared at them hard. 'Did she just do that?'

Both Gaara and Sakura had gotten way too deep into the music. During one of the breaks, Sakura had noticed Neji, and asked Gaara if she could have a little fun. Gaara just shrugged if off as a "whatever." At first, she had just been playing around, touching his waist and pulling him closer to her. The music began to take control. Both of them knew they were just friends, and that's all they would ever be. With the mix of alcohol and the throbbing beat of the music, she couldn't resist herself. She leaned down, and gently brushed her lips across his cheek.

Gaara gave her a questioning glance. She brought her face to his ear. "Neji has been watching you and me the entire time. I just wanted to test him." She glanced up and saw the dark haired boy stand up and make his way toward them. Neji didn't get more then two steps before a gloved hand came down on his shoulder, throwing him back.

"No. You will leave him alone. He is having fun. I will not let your ass ruin it," Kankurou's voiced yelled over the music.

Neji glared back at the older boy infront of him. "Yeah. Looks like he is about to procreate on the dance floor."

"That's it! You are coming with me." Kankurou yanked him back and pulled him up the stairs and into an office.

"No!" Neji tried to fight his way out of Kankurou's monstrous hands, but in the end gave up. The abundance of alcohol and lack of energy was enough to force him to give up. He settled for glaring up at his painted face, and huffed.

The rest of the group just stood there silent, watching the Hyuuga get dragged up the stairs by Gaara's older brother. Once the door slammed, everyone went back to their previous movements and activities. Gaara was an exception; he had become unnerved, and walked off the dance floor to sit down.

'What the hell is he going to say to him?'

* * *

"What do you want?" Neji sneered into the painted face of the man in front of him.

"I could ask the same thing. Look, I know Gaara doesn't want me to say anything, but I know for a fact that, especialy with how you have been looking at him the whole night, you still care about him. Now sit down and shut the fuck up!" Kankurou pushed him back onto the chair.

"What is there to tell? Me and him aren't together, and he never seemed to want to share his past when we were together, why tell me now?" Neji had calmed down a little bit, almost taking on a sullen tone.

"He still don't want you to know. He is scared. Look, I know what has been going on recently. Truthfully, I am sick of watching him hurt. Think about it. Think about all the recent conversations you had with him."

Neji sat there for a minute as the week's past events came flooding back to him"Neji. I'm sorry

* * *

_"What the hell do you think you are doing? You think after the shit you pulled it is going to be that easy? I don't know what even possessed you to do that. You haven't spoken to me in four months! That is not how it is going to work Gaara. You can't fix what you did to me with an "I'm sorry" and a kiss. It really just doesn't work that way."_

_"Yeah, but you liked it though. So I know you still care for me. I know I still have a chance."_

_

* * *

_

_"Gaara!" Neji had lost it. He wanted answers, and he wasn't getting them. "What the hell? Why won't you answer me?" Finally, he looked back to the brunette._

_"Why? Why'd... y-y-you... t-t-that?" Gaara could barley form the words together, let alone make a full sentence._

_"Why the hell do you care? You broke up with me, remember? And whom I kiss isn't any of your business. We are not together! We aren't even friends! So don't concern yourself with my relationships."_

_"You don't even fucking know! You think you are so smart. Well, you know what? You know nothing!" He rose to his feet, and was just inches from the boy's face. With tears in his eyes, Gaara continued to scream at him. "My life... You know shit about my life!"_

_"What the hell? Thatrquote s because you never let me!"_

_"I don't care! They were right! You were going to hurt me! You are hurting me!" _

_"What the fuck are you talking about? You broke up with ME! You hurt ME! So why the hell are you so fucking upset? I swear, I don't get you at all!"_

_Finally, Gaara had calmed down. "You're right. You don't get me. You know what? And you're right, I did break up with you, and do you know why?_

_"Why?" Neji snorted_

_"Because; because you were going to hurt me. And it looks like I was right." _

_"You know, I really thought I was beginning to love you."_

_

* * *

_

_For who?"_

_"Huh?" Gaara was still in a daze._

_"You said 'for him.' Who's him?" Neji stared down at the small boy. He never realized it, but Gaara looked so small huddled up in the corner._

_Gaara got up and splashed some water on his cheeks, careful not to upset the eyeliner surrounding his eyes. As he was walking out he turned to face his ex, "You," and with that he walked out._

* * *

"Gaara is a walking contradiction for a reason. His past, and childhood, were awful. Neither me or Temari could help. We wern't allowed to." Kankurou hung his head.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I know Gaara has never spoken about our father. No one in our house does. We want to keep Gaara has happy as possible, and speaking about him won't help."

"You act like he beat you to death or something." Neji scoffed.

Kankurou couldn't help but glare back at the younger boy. He couldn't stop it. His fist flew out, catching Neji's jawline. "I already told you to shut the fuck up, and listen. I don't want to hear any more out of you."

Neji looked back up, rubbing his jaw. Kankurou took the silence as his answer to continue.

"No you are right, he never hit any of us, but that didn't matter. Our father was evil, and power obsessed. He had everyone in Suna under his thumb. He was the head of the police department, so no one dared to oppose him." Kankurou's hands tightened by his sides.

If Neji didn't know any better he swore the gloves were going to burst at the seams from being stretched so far.

"Gaara took the brunt of abuse. That man wouldn't say a word to Temari, and all I ever got was a quick "shut the fuck up. This is none of your concern." Then he would go back to Gaara."

"You just said that he never hit any of you. So how was Gaara abused?"

"He didn't _hit_ us, because he was smarter then that. Physical abuse will leave scars and marks on the skin. Abuse of the heart is untraceable. That's what he would always tell us. He killed Gaara's heart and his soul a long time before we moved here." Kankurou's voice went from angry to hurt in a matter of seconds.

Neji took this all into consideration before speaking. "So is that why he seems so bipolar all the time, and won't ever say anything about his life before he came here?"

"That is part of it, but not all. Apparently, the villagers took their anger out on Gaara as well, but eventually he found one friend, Oashisu. This girl meant everything to Gaara, and I mean everything. We were just happy that someone could get into his head. He wouldn't let us come near him most of the time." Kankurou took in a deep sigh. "I think that he blames us for him being emotionally stunted. In the end, this girl became just like everyone else in his life. She killed everything in him. He was a complete, incoherent wreak. We even had to lock him away for a while. He was just too far gone for anyone to help."

"What? So you are telling me that Gaara is crazy?" Neji's eyes widened in shock.

A low growl came out of Kankurou's throat. "My brother was not crazy. He had problems, bad ones, but he _is not_ and _was not _crazy."

"Well that's what it sounds like to me. You said he "lost it". What does that mean then if he wasn't crazy?" Neji was becoming quite bold when adressing the older man.

"Gaara has depression, that's it, and he became severely depressed. After our father died; that bastard got shot in the line of duty. After all that he did, he was still branded a hero. Me and Temari couldn't take it, so we left, and came here. When Gaara got out, he came to stay with us as well. Things were bad for a long time. He would still barely speak, and every now and then me and Temari would find out that he had been cutting himself again."

Neji was not surprised to find that bit of news out. He knew that Gaara had suffered, and he had seen the scars that littered his arm. Anytime he would try to inquire about them, Gaara just brushed it off, saying "it's in the past".

"All that changed when he met you. We didn't find sheets stained in blood anymore. We stopped finding random razor blades and knifes in places that they shouldn't be. It was all because of you. You helped him so much. Even if he didn't show it, and even if he still acted like a cold hearted bastard toward you, he cared. The only reason he broke up with you was because of his past."

"That doesn't make any since. His past is just that, in the past. What he said hurt. I hated him for a long time." Neji finally began to break down.

"Our father's voice still plagues him at night. I can hear him talking to himself. I try to pretend that he doesn't hear it anymore, and try to keep it from Temari. I don't want him to go away again. I figured that if I gave you some alcohol you might get the courage to at least talk to him."

"You really want me to talk to him? I just watched him practically fuck Sakura on the dance floor. What exactly did you want me to say? In my eyes he looked plenty happy without me in his life."

Kankurou's head snapped up. After what he had just told Neji, this is how he was acting. Heat rushed to his face as anger quickly set in. "You fucking bastard. What the fuck possessed you-" Kankurou never did finished his sentence, instead he settled for the sickening crack that resounded when his fist came crashing into Neji's eye.

Neji, who had stood up in the process of Kankurou's statement, stumbled back onto the chair. "What the hell was that for?"

"You don't deserve Gaara, and you never will! You can never understand him. Get the fuck out of here! I never want to see you near him again! You have hurt him for the last time! I can't believe he actually loves you."

Neji stopped in his tracks. "What did you say?" He never did turn around to face him.

"You heard me. Gaara loves you. He always has. He told me that he would want you happy above anything else that happened in his life. You don't deserve happiness, or love, especially coming from him."

Neji swung the door open and stomped down the stairs and out of the club, never once noticing the redheaded boy behind the door.

Kankurou felt his chest become lighter, and sunk down into the chair. He heard footsteps enter the room. "Go away! I'm on break."

"Kankurou."

He looked up toward the voice; all he could do was stare at the saddened expression on his brother's face. "I'm sorry, little one. I tried."

"Kankurou, thanks." Gaara sat down and rested his head on his brother's arm.

Both sat in the silence of the room, the soft beat of techno buzzing in the background.

"I just got to know one thing: what the hell were you and Sakura doing on the dance floor?"

Gaara let out a small, choked laugh. "I was just dancing with her at first, but apparently Neji was burning holes into us, as she so eloquently put it. She asked if she could test him. I just nodded. She said not to worry and she didn't mean anything by it." Kankurou sat up, and gave his brother a questioning look. "She just kissed me on the cheek, that was it."

"Well, at least you had fun. I don't think you should drink and dance with her though. She might try to rape you."

Gaara choked on his own air, and glared at his older brother. "Aniki, I don't like girls, and she knows this. Besides, look."

Sure enough Sasuke and Sakura were on the dance floor, battling for domainance. "I think the Uchiha might be beat." Kankuro let out a small laugh. "Go have fun alright?"

"I'm not to much in the mood for fun. I think I just want to go home. Can I take the car?"

"No, you have been drinking. So just sleep up here until I get off."

Gaara just glared down his brother. "I haven't drank that much. I had two, and that was an hour before you dragged Neji up here. Do you realize you have been up here for about an hour and a half? I am not drunk anymore."

He really didn't want to argue. "Well, can you remember to pick me up when I get off? Be back here in two hours."

Gaara left without saying goodbye, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

The whole conversation with Kankurou replayed in his mind as Neji raced down the streets to a familiar place. He was sure that his face was now swollen, if not bruised. He soon reached his destination. 'It's about twelve-thirty now, so his company should be gone.'

Neji walked up the steps, and knocked on the door. Neji didn't even give him time to answer as he pushed himself into the blond.

Their lips smashed together forcefully, and Neji soon began to push Deidara back into the living room, slamming the door shut with his foot. His hands slipped behind the blonde's back, closing the space between them. A muffled moan was all Deidara did to answer.

He soon regained his thoughts after the initial surprise of being ravaged by the Hyuuga, and pulled them apart. "Are you drunk?"

Neji answered by pushing him onto the couch and straddling his waist. Leaning down to his neck, he slowly licked his way up to his ear. "Yes." It came out as a whisper against his skin.

Deidara was about to say something, but the hands tracing small circles at his waist left no time for that. It wasn't often a hot guy comes into your house and began doing what he was doing. Deidara was blond, not stupid. 'Like hell I'm going to stop him.'

It went like that for a while. Neji had managed to get both of them topless, and was now sitting on his knees to undo Deidara's pants.

He looked down at him, smiling. This had felt so good to him. After Neji succeeded in taking off their clothes, he brought himself back to straddling the boy's waist, and slowly rocking his hips into him.

"Help me forget," he moaned against the other boy before bringing their lips together for a kiss.

_**

* * *

A/N: Wow... It's another one. I must realy like writing these. They keep popping up. Ack! I don't know if I like it all that much, but it goes with the whole Neji using sex to forget, so I guess it will just stay. I love smut... not plotless smut... that is just no fun. I am still worried about how it sounds though. well... Read and Review! If I forgot any reviewers I am sorry it is late and I am tired, forgive me.**_

_**Crazyabutsasuke: **Don't metion it. I love my reviews. I really love the one's that are more then 1 sentence long. They are the best! I'm sorry there isn't to much sasusaku moments in this chapter. I have been neglecting the other half of the plot line...i.e Nejigaa. Thank-you!par b sasukefurever:b0 Yep. We have finaly gotten to see a little bit more of Itachi. Don't worry he will play a major role coming up soon. I don't have him in there just for the hell of it. hehehe. Yes he is sorta like Jin's right hand man. _

_**Tank: **MUHAHAHA. Yes I am a meanie. Sorry you were wrong, but both Jin and Itachi are still in tokyo... they shall return later. Yeah it is sad, but Sakura is made in the likeness of me... yeah I know I am a morbid one. XD_

_**MC:** Yes it is their god. Hehehe. I never do fail to smile when i read you reviews. I am sorry about the cliff hanger. I swear it isn't my fault... Ok it is my fault for the cliff hanger in this, but I mean the show isn't! Go to Japan and blame Kishimoto Masashi for takeing so long to get them bishies out on dvd... or you could have just downloaded them coughcough_

_**Sakura-Girl 2005:** I am sorry. I know Sakura is going through hell. Plase take the anger out on Jin not me. ducks flying shoe I would responed more, but that will give aways spoilers, and we can't have that now can we?_

_**ms-thang**: Yep Naruto is a dense one. I just love making him that way._

_And a million thank-you's to the following: **Shinobi Darkbeak, Fiona Mckinnon, Malitia, neu chi no nai u**_

_**Junsui Kegasu's BETA Notes: **GO KANKY, KICK HIS ASS! GO, GO, GO, GO, GO - -...ahem. Lovely lemon, it is, although, I advise you to put a warning in the summary AND at the top of this chapter for it - some people won't be pleased._


	10. Pointless

A/N: Gah! This is taking forever. I am sorry, but when you're stuck you are stuck. As always, thank you to my oh-so talented BETA Junsui Kegasu. Yay!

Disclaimer: I don't own. I am merely twisting the characters into my own sick plot. MUHAHAHAHA

Last time:

Kankurou has informed Neji on Gaara's past, but Neji still doesn't care. He goes to the only place that helps him forget.

Chapter 10: Pointless

Deidara woke up and glanced at the clock. 'Damn. It's two o'clock in the fucking afternoon.' He shook his head to clear the fuzz that usually graced him in the morning. He couldn't for the life of him remember much of last night.

He had his meeting last night, and right after that ended, Neji showed up, drunk beyond belief. 'How in the hell did he manage not to pass out, let alone drive here?' He tried to sit up, but Neji's arms were affixed rather tightly on his waist. Deidara let out a small sigh, and rolled over to face the boy.

"Are you going to let me go?" He mumbled into Neji's ear. This earned something that could vaguely be made out as "no," and a tightened grip. Deidara couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Fine. Then I will just have to pee on you."

Neji rolled over begrudgingly. "You are not R. Kelly, and I do not enjoy that kinky shit." (A/N: Yeah that was wrong, but I couldn't help it.)

He got off the bed and was laughing the entire way to the bathroom. After relieving himself, Deidara turned on the shower. 'I have no idea what happened last night, but hell whatever it was, I want to do that again.' He smiled almost sinisterly, but it quickly fell off his face.

At first Deidara wanted nothing more then attention from the brunette, but in the past week it turned into something. He wouldn't say it was love. Come on, who really falls in love in less then a week? He did want to connect with Neji on some other level besides a physical one. It was a fact; they did not talk about their past, or their lives in general. They had sex; that was all that their relationship was built on.

'Relationship. Ha. That's a good one.'

Deidara only wanted Neji. Neji on the other hand just wanted to forget Gaara. 'I am being used, and the sad thing is that I know it, but I just don't care.' A bitter smile crossed his face before rinsing the conditioner out of his hair and turning off the shower.

* * *

'Well, let's think this over. I went to the club last night. During in which I got completely smashed. I was watching Sakura and Gaara dance.' Neji burned a nonexistent hole through Deidara's wall. 'I got pissed, but before I could do anything, Kankurou grabs me and throws me upstairs. He then tells me everything about Gaara' s past, but I don't know why? Yeah. Okay. So I didn't take it like I should have, but I will be damned if he knows that I still have feelings for him.'

He finally got out of the bed, and made his way toward the kitchen. He heard the faint sounds of the shower running, and figured he might as well make breakfast for the both of them. Neji took out some eggs and bread. He never said he could cook well, but he could make a killer set of scrambled eggs.

Deidara stepped out of the shower, a black towel around his waist, and his bright blond hair splayed over his face, from vigorous rubbing in an attempt to dry it. He walked into the kitchen where he found Neji making breakfast. "Well if this ain't the picture of a happy home, I don't know what is." He whispered into Neji's ear.

Neji felt the cold water drip off Deidara's hair, and onto his shoulders. "We aren't family, and you know it."

Deidara loosened his arms. "What's with the cold attitude? Last night, you couldn't get enough of my words and my touches." He slid his fingers down the front of Neji's exposed chest, and earned a small shudder from the boy. "Okay, maybe I was wrong." He dropped his hold on Neji and made his way to the coffee pot. 'Yeah, it's three in the afternoon, but I still need coffee to wake up, and Neji is making _breakfast!_'

Both boys sat down at the table to eat. Deidara couldn't understand why everyone called it "silence;" right now it was deafening. He always thought that it was the loudest noise, but the definition of silence was without sound. He cut through the deafening noise with an attempt to start a conversation.

"So won't your uncle be mad that you never came home last night?"

Neji stopped eating and put his fork down. "I do not have a "home," I have a house. There is a difference." He made a slight pause. "And to answer your question, I don't care."

"That really didn't answer my question, Neji. I asked if he would be mad, not if you cared about him being mad."

"Fine. Probably, but I don't know. Better?" Neji let the words slip out with a sigh.

Deidara nodded. "Much."

The rest of breakfast was spent in horrible silence. After they were done eating, Neji went to go take a shower and left Deidara alone with his thoughts. 'I can't take this anymore. I need something more then silence.' He clicked on the radio beside is bed, and began flipping through random stations. 'Why is there nothing on when I need it?' He sighed, turning down the radio to a faint whisper, and grabbed one of the millions of sketchpads that lay on the floor.

* * *

Sakura slowly began to open her eyes. 'What time is it?' She glanced over at her clock. 'Damn. Two thirty already?' She propped herself up on her shoulder. Suddenly the room started to spin. "Oh, bad idea." She groaned while falling backwards onto her pillow, and pulling her covers over her head. "I feel like shit."

"I'm not surprised. With the amount of alcohol you ingested last night, it was a wonder you didn't pass out on the dance floor."

"Shhh. Sasuke you're too loud." She paused for a moment. "Huh? Sasuke what are you doing here?" Sakura didn't even have to take the covers off her head to know that he had that damn smirk plastered on his face. She felt movement by her head as the covers slowly came down, revealing Sasuke's face a few inches away.

"You don't remember?" Sakura shook her head slightly, trying not to increase the already impending headache. "You wouldn't let me leave last night, and begged me to stay with you."

A look of horror crossed her face. "I am so sorry if I came on to you or anything like that. Please, just forgive me. Whatever happened, just tell me that we didn't sleep together."

The smirk slowly fell of his face. 'Why in the world would she think that? I mean she was a little overly friendly last night, but does she really think I would do something like that?'

"Sakura. Look at me." She wouldn't respond, and instead settled for hiding her head in her arms. He sighed before grabbing both sides of her face and turning it upwards to face him. "You should know that I wouldn't do that."

A look of utmost sincerity was held in his eyes. Sakura almost felt bad for jumping to that conclusion. "It's not that I don't trust you. It's that I don't trust myself." Sasuke tilted his head in incomprehension. "Look. I said I want to be friend, but I want you. Like I really do want you, but I can't handle that. Well, and you know what they say. The truth comes out when you are drunk. Tell me what happened last night."

Sasuke felt bad for lying to her. "Nothing. I just didn't want to leave you alone considering how drunk you were, that's all. I slept on the floor."

"You sure?"

Sasuke only nodded in return.

Sakura was satisfied with his answer, and decided to go take a shower to wash away the stench of alcohol.

Sasuke watched her walk away. 'Well it's not a total lie.' He thought slowly as last night replayed in his mind.

* * *

_Sasuke pulled up in front of Sakura's house. "Alright Sakura. We're here."_

_She pulled herself up to look out the window. "Awww_, _but Sasuke-kun. My house is sooooooo far away. I don't want to walk that far." She put on the saddest face she could muster._

_"You are a lazy ass, you know that." He rolled his eyes while getting out of the car._

_Sakura shook her head. "Nuh-uh. I am a drunk ass." She barely got the last part out before busting into a fit of giggles. _

_"Fine. Come here." He opened up the car door and motioned for her to get up. Sakura got out of the car, and immediately used Sasuke as a leaning post. "Shit. Can you even stand up straight?" He said stumbling backwards from the extra weight._

_"Mmhmm, I just don't want to." She snuggled into his chest. "Mmm, warm." _

_'This is why I don't like drunk people.' He looked down at the pink haired girl. A content smile played across her lips. 'Well, at least she's happy for the time being.' He shrugged before picking her up and carrying her inside._

_"Alright drunk-ass, give me your keys so we can get in."_

_Sakura slowly fiddled in her pocket before retrieving said keys. "And what do I get for giving them to you?"_

_Sasuke almost dropped her. 'Is she flirting with me?' He quickly regained his composure._

_"You get to go inside and take your drunk ass to bed. That is what you get."_

_She huffed and handed him her keys. "That's not what I meant. What do I get from you?" _

_Sasuke tried to ignore her, but he soon found something warm making it's way up and down his neck. His resolve slowly began to fade. The only thing he could think of was getting her out of his arms as soon as possible. He got to her room a few seconds later, and attempted to drop her on the bed, but there was one problem._

_"Sakura. You have to let me go. I need to go home." He had trouble keeping his voice steady, as her teeth grazed his neck._

_"No you don't. You can just stay here. " She spoke in-between bites, and licks._

_Sasuke pulled back. It was that look. The same one he saw the first time. It was so pleading, and empty at the same time. She just wanted to feel, but Sasuke knew that she would regret it in the morning. "Sakura. You don't want this. You might now, but tomorrow you will regret it."_

_Her hold loosened on his neck, and she sat up straighter. "No, I won't. This is what I want. Please." Her eyes never lost that look of emptiness._

_"I will stay with you, but I am not having sex with you, or fooling around tonight. If you still feel that way in the morning, then we will go from there."_

_She looked a little bit upset, but her drunken mind eventually reasoned that a shot again tomorrow wasn't a complete loss. She pulled the raven-haired boy into her bed. "Tomorrow, your mine." She whispered in his ear, licking the outer shell. _

_Sasuke couldn't help but shudder before wrapping his arms around her small frame, and pulling her close. 'Too bad she won't remember a thing' He thought before sleep overtook him._

He had woken up later that night, and made a bed on the floor. Part of him wanted her to remember last night, but the other half knew better. 'Damn hormones.'

She came back in a few minutes later with a towel wrapped around her body. Sasuke sat there for a moment, staring. He soon gained his composure and turned away. "You ain't right, you know that?"

"Oh. I am sorry. I totally forgot that you were here Sasuke. Honestly." She glanced over at him. "Well, stay like that and I will be dressed in a few minutes.

Sasuke soon got very bored with staring down at the floor, and lay down on her bed facing the wall. "Are you done yet? I swear you have got to be the slowest person I know when it comes to getting dressed."

"Almost. It hasn't even been two minutes yet. I think you are just getting flustered because I am standing here naked, and you can't see. "

That was it. "Hn. Don't hold your breath. Uchiha's do not get flustered. Especially not by the likes of you."

The weight shifted on the bed and Sasuke soon found himself under the intense gaze of a fully dressed Sakura. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" The look in her eyes was that of anger.

"You think you can get me all hot and bothered by walking around naked, Sakura-_chan_? It takes a little more then that to get me, and you know it."

She still held that angry look on her face. Small drops of water fell from her hair and in to Sasuke's face.

* * *

Gaara sat in his room. 'I guess that was it then. It's really over.' He let out a long sigh as he shifted under his blankets, and buried himself in the darkness.

'I just don't get it. He didn't even seem like he cared.' Gaara flipped off the blankets and stared back at the ceiling, getting lost in completely random thoughts. Just then, a knock sounded at his door.

"What?"

"Hey Gaara. I just wanted to see if you wanted anything to eat?"

"No thanks, Kankurou. I'm not really hungry."

Kankurou nodded and began to walk out of the room. "Hey." The red head called him back in. Not once taking his eyes off the ceiling. He shifted on his bedspread. "Come here." Kankurou walked over and lied down next to his younger brother.

"What is it Gaara?" He would steal glances at his brother every few seconds, trying to read his face. Nothing ever changed on his face. His personality just wouldn't allow it. It was just a blank face with traces of pain, hurt, and anger.

"Something has been bothering me." Gaara face scrunched in confusion.

"And what is that?" Kankurou turned to look at him; concern was evident on his face.

"The ceiling."

"The ceiling? What the hell?"

"Yeah. Is it the same color as the walls?" His words came out like an innocent child.

Kankurou stared at his younger brother. Confusion was now planted firmly on both their faces. Gaara's head was tilted to the side as he studied the differences between the two. "Okay, little one. I think you have officially lost it. Kankurou let out a long sigh before getting up, leaving his brother to contemplate the difference in color alone.

'Darkness. Once again I am left alone in the dark.'

_It calls to me. _

_As I sit alone in the darkness. _

_Demons eat away at the nothingness that is my soul. _

_Why did the light desert me? _

_Maybe one day I'll have the light again._

_Maybe..._

* * *

A/N: Well yeah this was REALLY short for me. With work and whatnot, I haven't been able to get this out like I wanted to. I only got about two more chapters left in this story, and I might possibly do a sequel. Well yeah... I am going to do a sequel. Don't know when that will be. Oh yeah and why hasn't anyone reviewed my ObitoxRin fic. I have done with Hanyo-girl. The story is in her profile. And if you want some morbid ness you can go check out the one-shot I just did.

**Junsui Kegasu's BETA Notes: **Yo, people. I have an excuse for anything I missed today: IT'S FIVE-TWENTY-FOUR-IN-THE-FUCKING-MORNING! I don't even know why I wake up like this… XDD You used the ceiling thing! And mine still confuses me…even though 'The Art Major' explained it…loved the italicized passage, by the way.


	11. Just Like you

A/N: Blahhhh! Writer's slump. I hope this fic really doesn't turn into crap. Gah! Well, On with the show

Disclaimer: Oh, I am sooooo tired of doing these...(sigh)

Gaara: -Sigh- She doesn't own us.

Dark: But I wish I did. Good boy.

Gaara: -Glares-

Dark: Anyways...here we go!

* * *

Last time:

Well I don't really feel that I need to recap anything. The last chapter was just filler, and nothing happened to advance the plot. We did get a look into Deidara's perspective on things.

Chapter 11:

Three months had past since Sakura's move to Konoha. She could truly say that she was happy. Jin was still gone, and there was no word on when he was coming back. He did deposit money in her account for food, and other supplies while he was gone. She used the weekly balance to tell her when he would be home. For once she could walk around without having to worry about whether or not her make-up had ran, revealing her life to the rest of the world.

It was actually kind of ironic. Her and Gaara had become semi-close friends. In her opinion, he was a male version of her. Someone they loved had hurt both, and both tried had tried to find the same way out of it: death. Reluctant as he was Gaara finally broke down and told her what had happened with him and Neji. That damn pink haired girl was so persistent. She never did know when to give up.

When she wasn't hanging out with Sasuke, or Hinata, she would randomly drop by to visit him, or call just to talk. Hell, Temari even liked her, and she didn't like any females around Gaara. Not after what happened in Suna. She just didn't trust another female around Gaara. She really didn't need to worry anymore. Gaara had found out when he was sent away that he was indeed not attracted to females, but she was still the bigger sister, and this was Gaara we were talking about. Of course she worried. She didn't care if her baby brother was going to be an "adult" soon. He was still her kid brother, and nothing was going to change that.

* * *

'Well, let's see. It is now December, and Christmas is coming up soon. Oh god. I have to get so much stuff this year.' Sakura went down a mental list of which she would have to get presents for. 'Hinata, of course, then there is Sasuke, and Naruto. I really should get something for Gaara. I am rather fond of the redhead.'

"I think that's it." Sakura sat on her bed trying to figure out if she forgot anybody. "Do I want to give something to Neji? Naw. The way he has been acting lately, you would think he was on drugs." Sakura knew better then that. He didn't have any track marks; she looked.

According to Hinata, Neji was never at home. He would sometimes stay gone for days at a time, but always managed to show up to school. She knew it had to do something with his boyfriend. Yes, as surprising as it is, Neji and Deidara are still together. No one thought that something of convenience could last that long.

Life seemed to get back to normal. Once again she had felt the comfort of friends. She could trust people again, and that was a big thing for her.

Sakura lay back on her bed, reminiscing about the past months. Hinata stopped being the shy and stuttering person Sakura had known from Tokyo. Although she still retained her sweetness, and innocence, people no longer could walk allover her. Naruto was to blame for this. He would egg Hinata on, every time someone would try to push her down. Sakura still remembers the first day she blew up at somebody.

* * *

_Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Sasuke and Gaara walked down the hall, getting ready to leave school. Naruto and Hinata were walking ahead of the rest of the group, while Naruto went on, and on about one thing or another._

_'Man does he love rambling.' Sakura tried tuning him out and starting up a conversation with Sasuke or Gaara. While both had become rather comfortable around her, neither boy would hold up a conversation longer then two minutes. 'What the hell? Sometimes I can't get them to shut up when they are with me... Okay. That was an exaggeration, but still.'_

_Sakura was brought out of her irritation when she heard a commotion happening in front of her._

_"Watch it!" A stuck up senior had apparently ran into Hinata, knocking her to the floor._

_"I'm so sorry. Really. I should watch where I am going next time." Hinata sat on the ground, eyes down cast._

_"Hinata." _

_She looked up at Naruto. He held his hand out for her to get up, slowly shaking his head in disappointment._

_It looked as if a fire lit in Hinata's eyes. "No! I take that back." Her words were met with a glare. The snobbish girl turned around._

_"What did you say?" Her voice sounded like if could make molten lava freeze._

_"I said, No! I take that back. I am not sorry. You ran into me. I am tired of being treated like the little mousy girl that everyone can just stomp on! You," malice laced in her voice, "should apologize to me!" _

_No one knew what to think. Everyone just stood there, shell-shocked. 'Is that really my Hinata?' Sakura had never seen her get this loud before. She always would have to defend her. No matter what the situation. _

_Hinata fumed, while Naruto wrapped his arms around her. "Ahh! Hinata-chan! I am so happy right now." _

_Then the realization set in. 'I just yelled at somebody. I was rude, and now I am being stared at as Naruto is hugging me.' The red tint soon took over her face. 'This is not happening.'_

Sakura could have sworn that her friend's face would never return back to its original shade. Just then, Sakura's phone rang.

"Hello?"

_"Sakura. It's Tsunade."_

"Yes sensei?" Sakura held a questioning tone in her voice.

"_It's about Jin, and the company."_ Sakura's blood ran cold at the mention of that thing's name.

"What is it? Unless he is dead, I don't want to hear about him."

Tsunade let out a long sigh. _"No, the bastard is not dead. Not yet at least."_

"Well then I don't care." Sakura made a move to hang up the phone.

_"Sakura wait!"_ She brought the phone back to her ear.

"What?"

_"You know I still have people inside. None of them hold a substantial position, but I can still get news on some things. It seems that there is going to be something really big happening within the next year."_

"Well you know damn well I have no position, and no ties to the company, so why do I care?"

_"That's just my point. The big change has to do with you. Jin has something planned, and you hold a great deal of importance, from what I have heard. I don't know exactly what he has planned, so just keep and eye out on him when he comes back. Okay?"_

"Thank you Tsunade-san." The phone dropped from her hand, and onto the floor. 'What the hell could Jin need me for? I don't know anything about drugs, except how to use them. Other then that, I am clueless. I doubt he wants me to be a runner, and I know he will never give a women any important position, not that I would want it.' Her breath began to catch as she thought of the possibilities. She grabbed her phone, and dialed the first number she saw.

_Ring...Ring...Ring..._

"Come on Hinata. Answer."

_"Hey, It's me. Sorry, it looks like I can't come to my phone. So leave me a mess-"_

"Dammit!"

'I need to go for a walk.'

Sakura quickly grabbed a pair of sweats and a camouflaged top. Snatching up a beanie and a pullover she put on her shoes and walked out the door. She kept replaying the conversation with Tsunade in her head.

_That's just my point. The big change has to do with you. Jin has something planed, and you hold a great deal of importance, from what I have heard. I don't know exactly what he has planned, so just keep and eye out on him when he comes back. Okay?"_

'What could he want?' Her feet unconsciously carried her to the same bench she had sat on millions of times. Sometimes her and Sasuke would come here just to sit and talk at night. Gaara came here a lot to write. Sakura was still determined to find out what was written in there. Even though Gaara told her that if she ever looked in it he would "send her to the netherworld." That didn't give Sakura much hope, but she had dealt with worse, much worse.

She leaned over the bench catching the sight of that familer red hair. "Well, hello Gaara. I am so surprised to see you here." Her grin could almost match Naruto's, almost.

"Yeah right." Gaara rolled his eyes and sat up to give her room. "So what brings you here?"

"Huh? Oh. Nothing. I just got bored with sitting at home, and wanted to come to my favorite place." She dropped her head back to look at the sky.

"Ahh..." He bent his head down and went back to writing.

"Hey Gaara. What are you writing?" She tried to sneak a glance before he could cover it up.

"I already told you about this. Do you have a death wish or something?"

"Or something. Most likely; I am not to sure myself."

He gave her a puzzled look. He never really did get her. She talked in riddles sometimes and was very vague about a lot of things. Neither one of them bothered to ask any more questions. That's how it always went. Him and Sakura would talk a little bit, but in the end just found comfort being in each other's company.

Sakura slipped her hand into Gaara's and leaned her head on his shoulder. She tried to ignore the fact that he tensed at her touch. "Hey, am I making you uncomfortable? I'll get up if you want me to." She glanced at him through the corner of her eye.

"A little bit. I'm just not used to it. That's all. Stay there if you want."

"'Kay. I think I will." Gaara started to go back to his writing when she didn't say anything else.

_Voices crawl from the back of my mind,_

_Screaming again. So loud,_

_shredding the darkness, and silence I have grown accustomed to._

_I need them to stop. _

_They hurt, and remind me, I'm alone_

_Truly..._

_I am alone..._

"Hey Gaara." Her soft voice startled him, making him drop his pen. He tilted his head in reply. "Do you ever feel...? I don't know how to explain this."

"Well just say it. If I don't get it, I will tell you." He picked up his pen and closed his notebook.

"Well. It's weird. I finally have friends that I can trust, and people that care about me, but I just feel alone. I know people care, and I know that they are there for me, but I don't know. It's like something is missing."

Gaara gave her a look that just screamed "And you are talking to whom?"

"Oh yeah. Well then I guess you do get it then."

"Yeah. Sorry Sakura. I am not one for advice, and with me being me, I wouldn't take it if I had any to give."

"Naw. I don't need advice. That's what I have Hinata for. I just need someone that knows what I am talking about, not sympathy. Just someone to relate."

Gaara just shrugged. "Hey. Temari has been asking about you."

"Really? Do you mind if I come over?" She asked with a hopeful look in her eyes.

"Would it matter if I did?" Gaara knowing full well what her answer would be.

Sakura gave a sly grin. Gaara interrupted her before she could say anything. "Never mind. Let's go."

* * *

Sasuke sat in his room, music blaring out the speakers. This was the only good part about being alone. No one cared how loud your music was, ever. It wasn't like he had to worry about the neighbors complaining. He practically lived in a castle. So there was no need to worry about that.

His room was his sanctuary. The only place in that god-forsaken house that he could relax. It was all Itachi's fault. He just had to call to "check up" on him. Sasuke didn't understand the 'act' that his older brother put on. There was no need for him to fake a caring tone in front of his business partners. The conversation had struck a nerve deep within him.

_"Hello?"_

_"Hello Sasuke. How are you?"_

_"What the hell do you want?" Sasuke growled into the phone. _

_"Nothing, Nothing at all. I just wanted to check up on my little brother, and see how life is treating him. Don't you miss me?"_

_"Not in the least Itachi, and you know it."_

_He dropped the false sympathetic, and caring tone. "Hn. Anyways. I should be gone for about another month. When I come back we will have to discuss something. Okay?"_

_"Since when did you want to talk with me about anything?"_

_"Awww. Sasuke, that's not true. I was very interested in that Haruno girl."_

_Sasuke could almost feel the smirk trough the phone line. "You will not touch her, Ever. She doesn't need to be with the likes of you."_

_"Honestly Sasuke. You don't know how wrong you are." Before Sasuke could reply, Itachi interrupted him. "You have no idea, but you are just like me." With that the phone went dead._

'He has no idea what he is talking about. What the hell did he mean, "I'm just like him." I will never be like him. That fucking bastard is nothing but a criminal. He is cold, and calculating. He has no feelings. He didn't even look phased when mom and dad died. At least I have a heart, it maybe frozen but its there.'

The irony struck Sasuke as he listened to the music playing.

_I could be mean  
I could be angry  
You know I could be just like you _

I could be fake  
I could be stupid  
You know I could be just like you

You thought you were standing beside me  
You were only in my way  
You're wrong if you think that I'll be just like you  
You thought you were there to guide me  
You were only in my way  
You're wring if you think that I'll be  
Just like you

I could be cold  
I could be ruthless  
You know I could be just like you

'I won't. I can't I will never be just like you.' He continued to let the music blare throughout the speakers as he drifted off into his own thoughts.

* * *

Itachi hung up the phone. 'You think you know what's going on, little brother. Don't be so sure about your actions. I guarantee you will be just like me.'

"Itachi."

He looked back to acknowledge his boss.

"Is everything set? Have you told him yet?"

"No. Not yet. This will have to be something that is done in person. I can't very well do it over the phone. He would definitely not agree to that. Don't worry I will be able to persuade him. After all, your daughter seems to have quite a strong hold on him now doesn't she?" He smirked back at the older man.

"Watch your tone, Uchiha. I want my daughter to stay out of this until it is her time. Got it?"

"Hn. You said I have a year to convince him right? Well, won't she be playing her part by then?" Jin nodded in agreement. "He will know now, and when the time comes, he will accept his position in the company. I assure you."

"Hm. Just don't fuck up. I am running out of trustworthy people as it is. I need new blood."

* * *

Sakura sat at the table talking animatedly to Temari. The blond enjoyed her company; she was so unpredictable. One moment she was bouncing around acting like a complete idiot, and the next she would be so solemn (I give up trying to spell that right JK! JK: Oro? I think this is what you meant…) you would think someone died.

The second they walked in the door Sakura began talking up a storm, while Gaara made his way back to his room.

"Oh, I still need to go Christmas shopping! Do you have any idea what Gaara would like? I mean, I know him well enough, but he is so hard to read sometimes. I don't really know what to get him. If he doesn't like it, he might just kill me." She laughed slightly, but her voice still held some truth to it.

"Your guess is as good as mine. You might want to ask Kankurou when he gets home. He would know better then anyone. He is the closest person to him right now. Gaara holds onto him for dear life sometimes. I find it quite amusing to watch sometimes. Just the other day, Kankurou came downstairs muttering something about wall being different colors, or something like that." Temari let out a small laugh at Sakura's face. "Don't ask."

"I don't plan on it." Both girls began laughing even harder.

* * *

Gaara opened up his book to the last page he had been working on.

_Voices crawl from the back of my mind,_

_Screaming again. So loud,_

_shredding the darkness, and silence I have grown accustomed to._

_I need them to stop. _

_They hurt, and remind me, I'm alone_

_Truly..._

_I am alone..._

_The past is the only company I keep_

_It laughs at my pathetic attempts at friendship_

_Who are they to judge?_

_They aren't me, but_

_They are me_

_The past eventually fades back into the darkness_

_Truly..._

_I am alone..._

_Knock...knock...knock..._

"Hey Gaara. Can I come in?" No reply was heard for the other side, so Sakura checked the doorknob. The only time Gaara wouldn't let her in was if the door was locked. She smiled as she entered. "Hey."

Gaara nodded in acknowledgement and closed his book. "Ahh, I see you were writing again. When am I going to see it?" She inquired while flipping through his CD's. Finally she found one, and put it in. The volume was barely above a whisper as she made her way to his bed.

"Never. I don't even read half of what I write. I just write, and then turn to another page." He stared blankly at the ceiling.

"Hmm. Well it never hurts to try. One day you might just give in."

"Don't count on it."

This was the routine for her when she came over. When she finally made her way to his room, she found a CD, asked to read his book, and then lay down next to Gaara. She was one of the few females he actually felt comfortable around, the others being Hinata, and his sister. He didn't have to worry about her. She was head over heels for Sasuke, although she tried to hide it, and did it well in fact, but she could only hide the truth for so long before something would slip out.

"You know you should just tell him."

Sakura was shocked. 'Gaara giving advice? Now this was a day to mark on the calendar.'

"Shouldn't you follow your own advice? I mean, come on. You know you still love Neji, and don't try to deny it."

"Yeah. So what if I do? He is happy right now, and that's what I want. That is all I know. That he is happy, and that's the way it should be. It's different with you. You are happy with Sasuke, and he is with you. So you should be with him. Frankly I am getting tired of watching you two dance around one another. It's fucking irritating."

"Sorry. Yeah okay, I do need to tell him what I want. I just don't want it to be like last time. I am so scared to actually lose a friendship. You know?"

Yeah, Gaara knew. He knew all too well the stories of the friendship turned relationship, turned into nothing. That's how things went, and as cliché as it sounded, you win some you lose some.

As if on cue, Sakura's cell phone rang. She talked on it for a little bit before hanging up. "Hey, that was Sasuke. He says he needs to talk to me about something important so I am going to meet up with him, alright?"

Gaara just nodded as she showed herself out. She stopped to bid farewell to Temari, who was preparing dinner.

Sakura walked back to her house, and waited for Sasuke to come over. Within a few minutes there was a know at the door. "Hey Sasuke. Did you want to come in?" He just shook his head in return.

"I want you to come over to my house. I want to talk to you there. Is that okay?"

Sakura grabbed her coat and walked outside, shivering from the icy wind. Sasuke wrapped his arms around her, in an attempt to keep her warm. "Thanks," she muttered under her breath. Once in the car, they made their way to his house. Once they got to the house Sasuke made a beeline for his room, and motioned Sakura to follow him.

The chill from the December air never really left Sakura. She was still freezing. Sasuke offered her shivering form a blanket, but she declined. He gave up and wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her onto his chest. "See Sasuke." She looked up smiling. "This is why you are so great."

"Why? Because I don't want you to get sick, because you were too stupid or stubborn to take the blanket I offered?"

Sakura fought to suppress the glare she wanted to give him. "No." She said, smacking him lightly. "Because you are a human heater. People like you are the best thing to have in the winter. You know that? You can never be cold as long as you have a Sasuke."

"Oh yeah. My fan girls would love that."

"Your right! I can market you, and make a fortune! Thanks for the great idea! I will be sure to rent you out this entire winter." She grinned up at him.

"Hmm, but then again, wouldn't you miss me?" He pulled her closer, and laid down on the bed.

"Yeah. You're right. I would miss you."

Both people sat there, not saying a word. Their warmth and company was all each other needed. 'I should tell him. What happens if it end up like last time? I don't want to be hurt again.' She sighed, as a lone tear ran down her cheek. 'Well I hope this goes well.'

"Sakura. I brought you here to talk to you."

Sakura shifted her weight so that she was curled up against his chest. "Hmm? What did you want to talk about?" She kept her face buried in his arms, hoping that he would see how scared she was.

"Itachi called me today. Something's going on with him, and I don't like it. Apparently he is coming home next month, and he needs to talk with me."

"Do you know what it is about? I mean, he has never really shown any interest or guidance in your life. Why does he want to start now?"

"I don't know." Malice dripped from his voice. "All I know is that it is not good. I wanted to make up a promise Sakura." Sasuke put his hand on her face. "Why are you crying?"

"I'm not Sasuke." He gave her a knowing look. "Ok. So I was crying. I will tell you after you make you promise."

He nodded. "I am going to promise you this. Whatever happens, I want to tell you that I will never become like my brother, ever. No matter what he tries to do to me, I won't be like him."

She smiled back at him. She had heard about the emotional rock his brother was. So uncaring, so cold. He reminded her a lot of Jin. Just the absolute fear that man could instill in people was mind blowing. Itachi had the same charisma attached to his aura. Without realizing what was happening, she pulled her face up to his, and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Thank you. I don't think I could be with you if you turned into your bother."

Sasuke gave her a confused look. "Sakura, what are you talking about?"

"Come on. A smart boy like you can figure it out." She smiled lightly up at him. Whatever you do, just don't hurt me. Okay?" She brought her lips to his confused face. "Stay with me. Be with me. I'm ready."

A/N:Yeah this was really quick there is only a few chapters left. I am think along the lines of three. and that will be it. I hope yall liked this better then the last one, but now I am late for work! I must leave you.

Junsui Kegasu's BETA Notes: Yaaay for SasuSaku…if you're a SasuSaku fan. I'm still waiting ever so patiently (cough cough hack) for the KankyGaa! 9.9 Yaaay for snow days! Loved the Hinata bit, by the way.


	12. For the Sake of Being Wanted

A/N: I am so sorry this took so long. It looks like most of my reviewers have deserted me. I had less then half of what I normally do. I'm not stressing it too much. I would write this story even if no one reviewed it, but it's just nice to know what people think. Ok after this we have one more to go then it will be complete. Next will be the sequel, but that wont be start until I am about half way done with AL, at least. I would tell ya'll to go read it, but I KNOW my SasuSaku fans wont. HAHAHAHA it's KankyGaa. I love ya'll any ways! Oh yeah and here's what ya'll have been waiting for: my SasuSaku lemon. It was a long time coming, but here it is! Wow... This is a really long authoress note... ON TO THE STORY!

Warning: There will be both a yaoi, and het lemon in this chapter, plus a semi-rape.

Disclaimer: I do not own. Na no da. Na no da... (Yay Shuichi!)

* * *

Last time:

She smiled back at him. She had heard about the emotional rock his brother was: so uncaring, so cold. He reminded her a lot of Jin. Just the absolute fear that man could instill in people was mind blowing. Itachi had the same charisma attached to his aura. Without realizing what was happening, she pulled her face up to his, and kissed him lightly on the lips. "Thank you. I don't think I could be with you if you turned into your bother."

Sasuke gave her a confused look. "Sakura, what are you talking about?"

"Come on. A smart boy like you can figure it out." She smiled lightly up at him. Whatever you do, just don't hurt me. Okay?" She brought her lips to his confused face. "Stay with me. Be with me. I'm ready."

* * *

Chapter 12: For the Sake of Being Wanted.

Sakura sighed into the hesitant kiss. She knew why she felt the hesitation, dare she say, fear in what she was doing. She really couldn't take that feeling she had felt so long ago. True the drugs "helped", but in the end she was left worst off. The same phrase kept running through her mind. 'Don't hurt me. Please don't hurt me.'

It took a moment for Sasuke to comprehend what events were taking place. 'Why is she doing this? I thought she didn't want this right now.' Then it all seemed to fall into place when her last words replayed in his head.

_"Stay with me. Be with me. I'm ready."_

Sasuke took this as a sign, and slowly responded to her kiss. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Sasuke pulled away slightly, ghosting his lips across her cheek as he spoke. "Sakura. Are you sure this is what you want? I don't know if I will be able to stop myself once this gets started."

She smiled and looked up into those eyes that reminded her of night itself. "Mmhmm. This time I won't stop myself from being happy. I don't want to."

Although the voice in the back of her head kept screaming at her to stop what she was doing, she ignored it. She had always followed the voices in her head. This time she followed what her heart wanted, and what it had wanted ever since the first night he took care of her. That was the night she knew she cared for him. She didn't know how much until he pressed his lips to hers again.

That feeling of desire and fear all mixed together. She wanted it to stop, but at the same time, she knew she couldn't. Sakura ran her cold hands up past his neck, and played with his hair. Sasuke slowly lifted up her shirt, and pulled it over her head. He broke the kiss and pulled her into an embrace. He was never good at talking, or expressing anything remotely romantic. He just let his actions speak for him. He held her there for a moment letting her skin warm him.

"Umm Sasuke?" About this time he noticed that one of her hands had left his hair and was now tracing small circles against the waistline of his pants. He pulled back slightly to look into her eyes. This time there was no trace of fear, or the emptiness he had seen the time before.

Both began undressing the other, each touch bringing more desire then the previous one. Soon both bodies lay naked next to the other. Sasuke pushed himself up to lie on top of her, slowly trailing his tongue down the side of her neck. She let out a gasp, and softly raked her nails up his back. "Sasuke, I want more."

He laughed slightly at her pleading. "And I plan on keeping it that way."

She moaned in protest, arching her back into him. "No, stop teasing. It's not fun."

"Oh, but it is fun. I like to watch your reactions. They entertain me." He sat back to take in her reaction, and was surprised when he saw her smiling.

"Sasuke." She pulled him back down to her, and setting a fiery kiss on his lips. "Entertain this."

With more power then either knew she possessed, Sasuke found himself underneath the pink haired beauty. She sat across his waist, and leaned down to his face. "So how's this for a reaction." Before he could manage an answer Sakura pushed herself down onto him.

The Uchiha let out an undignified moan. "I think I like your reactions better Sasuke." She spoke through short heated breaths.

The battle for dominance never left even during acts of love. Both parties tried to outdo the other. What started out sweet and caring turned into an act more animalistic then anything else.

In the end both laid there on the bed, out of breath. Sakura laughed quietly as she rested her head on his chest. "I think I might have overdid it." She was rubbing her now freshly bruised hips. "What do you think?"

He placed his hand over hers, and nuzzled his head into her neck. "That's nothing compared to what my back probably looks like."

"Hmm. Yeah your neck too. Sorry about that."

Sasuke slid his hands around her waist and pulled her closer to him. "Don't worry I'm fine."

"'Kay." She smiled softly before closing her eyes, and falling asleep.

* * *

The next morning Sakura awoke with a plan of genius. Instead of buying everyone Christmas presents, she would just throw a huge party. She slowly tried to pry Sasuke off of her, so she could start making the necessary arrangements. Sasuke's arms, however, had a mind of their own. 'Ugh. Even in his sleep he's stubborn.' She started to pull a little harder and couldn't help but laugh when he started to frown in his sleep.

"No." He tightened his grip.

"Sasuke. I need to take a shower, and go home. I want to get ready for Christmas. It is in a few days you know."

He slowly opened his eyes, glaring against the light. "Fine." He let go, and rolled over. He began to pout, upset that he had lost his warmth.

"I'll call you when I'm done." She didn't really make out a reply. It sounded more like a muffled grunt more then anything else. She got up and made her way into his bathroom. He pretty much had everything she needed here. I mean, hell, all a girl needs in her life is some black eyeliner, and she's happy. And Sasuke had plenty of that.

She hummed softly while washing the remnants from the other night away. 'Well seeing as I already gave Sasuke his Christmas present, he doesn't need to get anything else. Or I could just give him that again. I'm sure he won't mind. As for the party… Hell, why should I just keep it for my friends? I'll just invite everyone. That way, they won't feel left out.'

She climbed out of the shower, got dressed, and applied some dark blue eyeliner. 'Wow. I never thought Sasuke would have colors. He seemed like a "black" person to me.' She opened the door, and found a very lazy Sasuke wrapped up in his bed still.

"Sasuke. I'm leaving." At the sound of her voice he opened his eyes. Eventually his hand came outside the blanket, and he motioned her to come back to him. "What is it? I need to go. I have a lot of planning to do."

She walked over waiting for him to speak. He just kept staring at her through his nigrescent(1) orbs "What?" she huffed. This was taking to long, and she had a lot of planning to do within the next few days.

"Nothing. I just wanted to look at you one more time."

She smiled at his sweetness. "Aw, Sasuke, you act like I'm going to leave you and never come back."

"You never know. You might walk out and never come back."

"Didn't I tell you not to leave _me_? So why on earth would I not come back?"

He just shrugged. "Hey. I mean shit happens right? You think everything is going good, and then one day you might just up and leave me. Look what happened to Gaara and Neji."

Sakura automatically jumped to Gaara's defense. "First of all, you don't know what you're talking about when it comes to him so don't try. Yeah they did break up, and only a few people know why. I guarent-fucking-tee that Neji doesn't even know the real reason behind the break up. Secondly, that won't happen to us." She softened her voice slightly. "It just won't. I care about you. More than you will ever know. I wont hurt either on of use by pulling out of this. I'm yours now, and that's how it will stay."

Sasuke seemed confused at first. He was shocked that she jumped on him like that. In the end he was happy, and at least some of the doubt was washed from his mind. "Alright. Just come here for a second."

She leaned down. He wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her down onto his bed. "Mmm. You smell good."

She giggled. "I smell like you." She pushed herself up and walked away. "I'll call you later. Oh, and get out of bed, you lazy-ass!" She shut the door, and walked out of the house.

* * *

It took two days of non-stop planning, but she had done it. The rooms, food, alcohol, and even a mile long guest list were all completed. Although she hadn't talked to anyone in those two days, both Sasuke, and Hinata had blown up her phone. She told them that she couldn't be bothered, but they insisted on calling her every five minutes. Eventually she cut her phone off, and all they got was this message:

_Christmas is coming, so if you want your damn present. LEAVE ME ALONE! Beep._

Everything was perfect. Anybody that wanted in could be there. She had used her spending money for food to buy out an entire hotel floor. She took one final look at the set up. 'Oh, shit. I got to get home, and change, or I'll be late to my own party.'

* * *

Gaara was still seriously debating on weather or not he should go. Both Temari and Kankurou had a prior engagement, so neither one was going with him, but it was Sakura's party; he became semi-attached to her. They were just so much alike. She understood him, and could relate to him. He still didn't want to have any problems while he was there. In the end he shrugged and sighed before making his way to the shower.

After the shower, Gaara got out, and made himself as festive as possible. Him being Gaara, the closest he got to "festive" was black and red.

"Damn Gaara. You look like the Santa from hell!" A small laugh was heard outside the bathroom door.

Gaara dropped the eyeliner from the abrupt interruption. "What do you want Temari?"

"Awww. Gaara. I just wanted to see you off on you very first Christmas party." She stepped into the bathroom decked out in a short black dress, and her hair straightened, swaying right below her shoulders.

"Um, Aneki..." Temari looked up at Gaara. "Are you sure you're going to an_ office party?_ You looked, well... sexed up."

Temari fell over laughing. "Thanks for that wonderful description Gaara. You should go check out Kankurou. He looks worse then me."

"What is _he_ in, a leather bra and chaps?" Gaara got an evil glint in his eye. "Maybe even a wig?"

Temari sputtered. "I wouldn't go that far. If you're the Santa from hell, then he's the devil himself on Christmas Go see for yourself."

Gaara quickly finished putting on his red eyeliner, and made his way to Kankurou's room. Sure enough Kankurou was sitting at his mirror swiftly putting on his normal face paint. After he was finished he turned to Gaara.

"What you think, little one?" Kankurou let out a devilish smile while Gaara took in his appearance. Black pants with Red belts buckling down both legs. His black shirt had numerous chains falling from the sleeves, and a black hat, with kitty ears. Instead of his normal purple paint, his face was accented with a dark blood red.

"Hn. Looks like Aneki was right. You do look like the devil himself."

"See! See I told you!" Temari jumped up behind Gaara, causing him to flinch from her loudness. "We're one fucked up family, yeah?" She smiled looking at both her brothers. "I want a picture of us. Even though we won't be together this Christmas eve, we'll have at least one memory together." She disappeared to get the camera.

"There's no way to get out of this one, is there?" Both brothers sighed as Temari arrived with the camera and stand.

"Okay. I will set this up to take it in thirty seconds." Temari began playing with the buttons. While Kankurou, and Gaara just laughed at her giddy-ness. They stood there impatiently until a high pitched "ready!" was heard.

Temari walked around to stand in the middle of her two brothers. She pulled Gaara to her chest, while Kankurou hung his arm over Temari, all having slight smiles on their faces. Sometime later, Temari would pull out that same picture, and noticed that Gaara never looked happier than he did lying against her.

All three siblings made their way out the door, Gaara to the hotel, Temari to her office, and Kankurou to the club. It sucked that he had to work tonight, but they needed money, so that's the end of whatever argument he would have came up with.

* * *

Hinata was running around frantically. 'Oh no, I'm going to be so late! It's just not fair. The party started over thirty minutes ago. Her blue dress spinning around her as she put the final touches on her appearance. "Neji-nii-san! Are you coming?" She yelled down the hall to her cousin's room.

A muffled reply was heard, but Hinata couldn't make it out. After she finished her make-up, she made her way to his room. "Neji." She knocked softly.

"Come in, Hinata."

She pushed the door open to find him lying back on his bed, his black pants accented by the silver shirt and eyeliner. His pale eye stood out even more so then usual. "So, are you coming Neji?" she spoke softly to him. It was true that she had become bolder, but she was still the same quiet Hinata, especially around her cousin.

Neji flipped over to look at her. She truly looked beautiful. Her blue off-the-shoulder dress fit tightly around her waist before flaring out at her hips. Her hair had been pulled up loosely, a few strands stubbornly hanging in her face. The fishnet stockings, however, took away from the completely innocent look she was giving off, as did the knee-high boots.

"You look stunning Hinata." Neji spoke slowly, before getting of his bed.

She blushed slightly, still not used to be given compliments. "Th-thank you. So, are you coming?"

"Mmhmm. I'm going to take my own car. I got to pick up Deidara too." He walked out of the room, pausing at the stairs. "Oh just to let you know. Uzumaki is_ not _going to nail you tonight. So don't even think about it."

Hinata went wide-eyed and just stared back at him. "Neji!" She yelled completely mortified that her cousin would say something like that.

"You might want to go now. You're already late aren't you?"

She nodded and followed her cousin down the stairs, and both made their way to the respected vehicles.

* * *

Sasuke stood there tapping his foot impatiently. "How long is it going to take her to get ready?" He sighed audibly. "This is ridiculous. She's going to be late to her own party!" He stomped up the stairs to hurry her up. "Sakura!"

Sakura was sitting on her bed, holding her phone in her hand. Willing the tears to stay in her eyes, and not pour down her face. Tsunade just called. She had gotten more information on what was going to happen inside the company. Her life was officially over.

* * *

_"Hello?"_

_"Sakura? It's Tsunade." She heard the happiness in her voice, and debated about breaking the news to her._

_"Oh merry Christmas! I was just getting ready for my party." She had totally missed the traces of sadness in the elder's voice._

_"Listen Sakura. I have more information for you."_

_"I don't really care about that dick-wads organization, but whatever. What is it now?"_

_Tsunade let out a long sigh before she continued. "First I want to tell you a little bit about your mother, and her role in the company."_

_"Go on." A trace of hesitation left in her voice._

_"When she met Jin, I was automatically made her keeper. That's why I was around so much. Sakura, your mom's job was to help concrete Jin's business deals."_

_"So she wrote the contracts? I mean, yeah, so what? Jin thinks I'm going to do dirty contracts for him and his lackeys? I don't think so."_

_"No, Sakura. She was used as a bargaining chip, so to speak. Her job was to make sure the other person said yes."_

_Sakura did still not fully understand the implications of what her teacher was saying. "What does any of this have to do with me?"_

_"Sakura, your mother was used as a whore. She slept with the men so they would say yes, and did so for several years. Jin threatened to take away everything if she refused. As much as she hated it, she kept doing it just so you wouldn't be harmed."_

_"Y-y-you're lying! No! My mother was _not _some common street whore!"_

_Tsunade stopped Sakura's ranting. "You're right! Your mother was a kind, and caring woman. She was just in to deep, and couldn't pull herself out. She eventually did, just not soon enough. Tsunade was silently sobbing on the other line._

_"What do you me--? Oh. Oh, God! That's the reason she dead? She stopped sleeping with people? That's the fucking reason my mother is dead?"_

_"Sakura, I'm sorry. I tried to get her out, but I had a leak in my rankings, and Jin found out. I'm so sorry. I couldn't protect her."_

_"My mother is dead because she refused to be a whore..." Her mind slowly slipped into the conversation that her and Tsunade had when they met again._

* * *

"_How the hell did you get out without being killed?"_

_"We will just say that Jin owes me a really big favor, and he let me out because of it. I did so much dirty work for that organization. He really didn't have a choice in the matter."_

_Sakura couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "That whole thing is nothing but dirty work, and you know it."_

_

* * *

_

_"Sakura. You're next. You will be Jin's new bargaining chip. That's what he wants from you. "_

_"What the hell? I'm not even eighteen yet! How the hell does he think that's going to work?"_

_"You won't know until your eighteenth birthday. I am going to try to find a way out of this for you, Sakura. Please just stay calm."_

_Sakura laughed slightly. "You want me to stay calm? I'm going to be a fucking whore, and you're not even there anymore. So who's going to protect me now? Huh? I'm not going to do it. I'll just tell him no." Sakura knew that telling Jin a simple "no" wouldn't work."_

_"I don't know, Sakura. Please don't do anything rash. I will still keep you updated, and I'll figure something out." _

_After that she hung up the phone to leave Sakura sitting on her bed. 'I'm nothing but a whore.'_

_

* * *

_

Sakura was brought out of her musings when there was a knock at her door. "Come on Sakura you're late to your own party. She laughed before giving her shaky reply.

"I'm coming."

Sakura stepped out of her room, her black halter-dress clinging tightly to her hips, stopping right above her knees. Her hair was left down and slightly waved. She had chains wrapped around her waist for a belt, letting them hang loosely. She had on a pair of red finger-less gloves, and very surprisingly, little make-up - a thin line of liquid eyeliner, and dark red lipstick.

Sasuke stared in awe. 'Okay, so it was worth the wait.' He looked back up at her face noticing the pained look in her eye, and gave her a questioning look.

"Merry Christmas, Sasuke." She smiled slightly before kissing him forcefully. 'God. I'm never going to be able to do this again. Who wants to date a whore?'

Sasuke was stunned, but kissed her back. "Let's go."

* * *

Sakura, and Sasuke pulled up to find quite a few people already inside.

"Let's go find our friends."

The first thing Sakura did was made her way to the table of loaded alcohol. She mixed herself a rather strong drink, and a shot, downing both quickly.

"Starting off rather early tonight, aren't we?"

She jumped before turning around. "Gaara. Shit, don't scare me like that!" She clutched her chest, and tried to calm down her breathing. "I'm glad you decided to make it. I thought crowds weren't your thing."

Gaara shrugged. "I thought I would make a small appearance and get some free alcohol in the process." He quickly made himself a drink. Sakura had offered, but he declined. The way she was making drinks, she was likely to end up in the hospital tonight.

"Thanks for coming anyways, even if you are using me for my alcohol." She laughed before giving him a small hug, and making her way back to Sasuke. Both danced for a little bit, before Sakura saw Hinata. She waved spastically, the alcohol setting in.

"Hinata! Damn you look hot." A few people turned to stare. Sakura ran up to her friend, and gave her a tight hug. "I see you are going to go after Naruto tonight." She nudged her friend in the ribs.

"What about me?"

Hinata's face when from the color of Gaara's hair to the paleness of the white tile on the floor. "Nothing, Naruto. Nothing at all."

He gave them a questioning look before shrugging it off. "You are looking hot, if I do say so myself Hinata." He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Wanna dance?"

She nodded, and both of them were off. Sakura looked around. She spied Sasuke by the bar, and made her way over there. 'Perfect. I can make me another drink.'

She made small talk with a few people, and had to force Ino to leave. She was blatantly falling all over Sasuke, and Sakura was getting very irritated. Seeing a knowing look from her, Sasuke pried Ino off of him. Sakura walked over, ignoring the taunts coming from the blond bitch. She wrapped her arms around Sasuke's neck, and glanced over at Ino.

"You just wish you were me." Before Ino could protest Sakura brought her lips to Sasuke's and started a small make-out session in the middle of the floor, Sasuke being the one to break it. His girlfriend's limitless control had faded very fast with a not-so-small amount of alcohol.

"Let's sit down for a little bit." Sakura nodded, walking away to one of the couches. Instead of sitting next to him, she took this opportunity to sit in his lap. Not hearing any protest she curled up and stayed there, the whole time watching Hinata, and Naruto dance.

"They look quite close."

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, but do you think that fool will ever find out that she likes him?"

"Haven't a clue."

* * *

Gaara was seriously debating on whether or not to leave. He made his appearance, and had gotten some drinks. It was an hour and a half into the party, and he was becoming bored. Just before he was about to leave, Neji came in the door, not pausing for more then a second before making a beeline to the alcohol bottle.

Instead of making a drink he grabbed a random bottle to chug, praying the entire time that he did not get sick. Hesitatly, Gaara made his way over there. They were on speaking terms now, so he should at least say "hi."

He made his way over to Neji, giving him a bewildered look. 'How can someone drink so much alcohol in one sitting.'

"What?" Neji stopped to speak before downing more alcohol.

"Nothing. I just wanted to come say "hi." I'm about to leave, so I guess this is good-bye too."

Neji grabbed his wrist as Gaara was walking away. "Wait. Care to keep me company for a little while? It's been a rough night."

Gaara shrugged and let Neji lead him away to sit down. Not once did Gaara see his lips leave that bottle. Once they sat down, an uncomfortable silence pounded through them over the music. "So, what did you want?"

Neji shrugged the alcohol finally calming him down. "I just had a bad day. I wanted to see a familiar face."

Gaara scoffed at the remark. "Why didn't you just go visit your boyfriend? I'm sure he is _very_ familiar by now."

Neji just glared at him. "No. I don't want to see him right now. Besides, he blew me off to hang out with some of his friends. That's why he's not here. Oh yeah. And he's not my boyfriend"

Gaara raised a non-existent eyebrow. "If I didn't know any better, I would say you were jealous."

"Not really. I just wasted time going over there, arguing with him, and coming here. I don't really want another argument with you. I don't have the energy for it. I just want to relax, and enjoy the party with some nice company."

"Since when have you associated "nice" with my company?"

"What? Would you have preferred "nice-looking"? Because I can say that just as easily."

Gaara was lost in those words. 'He must be drunk if he's hitting on me so blatantly.' He paused for a moment. "Whatever works for you."

"I think I prefer nice-looking." He nodded before looking back at Gaara with heavy lidded eyes. Unconsciously he moved closer. "Hey Gaara."

"Wha--." Gaara stopped what he was saying when he found a pair of familiar lips on his. He just sighed into the kiss. He had been waiting for this for about six months. He truly missed it, even if he was unwilling to admit it now. He broke away slowly. Hearing a small "sorry" come from Neji.

He looked back at the older boy. His head hung down in shame. "I'm sorry, Gaara. I just - I don't know, really. I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for being such an ass, and I'm sorry about what happened between us, and I'm just sorry."

Gaara just stared back at him. This really wasn't happening was it? Neji. The Hyuuga Neji was apologizing to him.

"Can we go somewhere and talk?"

Gaara nodded and got up, holding out a hand to steady the already drunken Neji. Making his way to the balcony, and locking the glass door behind him. There were going to be no interruptions tonight. They both say down on one of the small couches outside, the cold crisp air chilling everything around them.

"Look, I don't know where to start." Gaara sat there with his head down.

"I do." Neji took Gaara's chin into his hands and kissed him again.

This one wasn't as sweet as the one he got inside. It was more possessive. Neji wanted to claim the smaller boy. He pushed deeper into the kiss, sliding his tongue across Gaara's lips, and pushing past the barrier to the warmth inside.

The kiss tasted too purely of alcohol for Gaara's taste. He tried to push Neji back, but found his arms being held back. When Gaara tried to pull away he found Neji pushing him back onto the couch. 'This wasn't supposed to happen. He just wanted to talk!'

Gaara struggled, trying to get the older boy off of him to no avail. Neji's body weight pressed into Gaara, grinding slightly against his hips. He could hear Neji moaning into the kiss. "Stop, Neji please! You're drunk!"

"No. This is what I want. This is was you want." He shifted his weight to pull down the younger boy's pants.

Gaara took this time to curse his thin stature. 'Shit.' He struggled some more, but found it only to arouse Neji further. "No, Neji, this isn't what I wanted!" He panicked slightly. There was no one here. The blaring music drowned out all of his protest.

Neji smirked slightly before continuing his previous act. After freeing himself from his pants and placing himself at Gaara's entrance. "Yeah? Well then what do you want?"

"I just wanted-" He stopped to let out a heart-wrenching scream. The pain felt like it was going to tear him in half. "I just wanted you to love me back," he whispered as tears rolled down his face. "That's all I wanted, was for you to love me." He soon ignored the physical pain. All that claimed him was the numbness of his own heart.

He was brought out of his state of shock as Neji climaxed. Gaara vaguely heard his name being moaned into the night. He closed his eyes forcing everything back inside him.

'It wasn't supposed to be like this. You were just supposed to love me. I didn't want any of this.'

Gaara cried silently.

"I love you." Neji whispered, softly resting his exhausted body onto Gaara, but those words were lost to the redheaded boy.

The only sound Gaara heard was silence.

* * *

Dark's A/N's: WAHHHHHH. WHY GAARA WHY? Oh yeah I wrote it. I cried the entier time, and deleated it about three times before I sent it... Yeah I have decided to scratch the sequel to this story. Insted I will just make it a longer story. So it wont be ending anytime soon. So be happy! Sorry it took so long to get this out... work is killing me right now.

Pre-Fine-Tuning BETA Notes: (Feel free to delete these XD): OO! OMIGOD, DID NEJI DO WHAT I THINK HE DID? (reads through the entire chapter)

1 - (A/N: that is probably the most overused word on fanfiction, but I am at a lack of creativity. JK: o.o! I'll help! …wtf? My spellcheck doesn't include an actual word…but it includes ten different versions of "aw" and every Naruto character to date…screw you, spellcheck. Random Edit: The word _was_ obsidian)

**Junsui Kegasu's Very Wet BETA Notes:** (B!A!W!L!ING HYSTERICALLY) OMIGOD! OMIGOD! OH, MY GOD! HE _DID_ DO WHAT I THOUGHT HE DID! (sobs for little while) On another note, it was well done, and you had me reading another het scene! Are you trying to kill me? Well…(BAWL) I keep waiting for you to get online, but it's 5:54 in the morning…and you gotsa leave for work at six…I think…so either you're asleep (WAKE UP) or you're leavin'…waaah…semeeee!


	13. What I Wanted

A/N: Oh look it's a new chapter, filled with all my glorified angst. I don't feel like a longer note today, so I shall continue on with the story. Oh yeah thank-you to my BETA!

Warnings: Umm the usual angst, and self-mutilation in this chapter. That is all

Disclaimer: Insert something witty/funny here, stating that I don't own.

Last time:

'It wasn't supposed to be like this. You were just supposed to love me. I didn't want any of this.'

Gaara cried silently.

"I love you," Neji whispered, softly resting his exhausted body onto Gaara, but those words were lost to the redheaded boy.

The only sound Gaara heard was silence.

* * *

Chapter 13: What I Wanted.

Kankurou slowly stumbled to the bathroom; last night had been hell. If this was Christmas, what the hell was fucking New Years going to be like? He felt disgusting. It was supposed to be the holidays; where was all the cheer? Oh, yeah. He remembered. He worked at a bar; people didn't come there to be cheery, they came there to forget that it was the damn holidays to begin with.

Such was the fact that Kankurou had to throw half the people out last night. One man in particular gave him trouble. He had insisted that some girl at the bar wanted to go home with him. Kankurou had seen the entire act, the way she politely told him, "No," to protesting violently, to actually kicking him. When the guy went to storm after her, Kankurou stepped in between and kicked him out. He did get him out, but not before being covered in sticky soda and cheap liquor.

"Stupid drunks." Kankurou slowly knocked on the bathroom door, but it was locked. Hearing the shower run, he figured he might as well go lay back down. He looked down at his poor pillow, now stained red. He hadn't bothered to do anything last night, not even take off his make-up. "Well, that's going to stain." Not caring anyways, he fell back down, sleep slowly reclaiming him.

He woke up about an hour later to the sound of Temari banging on his door. He could vaguely hear his name being shouted through the heavy wood.

"Kankurou! Kankurou, get your ass out here, now!"

He opened is door to find a wide-eyed Temari, make-up smeared across her face. It seemed she too hadn't bothered to take any of her stuff off from the party. "What?"

"Are you just going to let the shower run, or are you getting in it? You know, some of us would like to bathe." She smacked her dry lips together, trying to rid her mouth of the horrible aftertaste of alcohol.

"Look at me Temari. Does it _look_ like I'm getting in the shower?" Kankurou leaned up against his door, while Temari took in the sight in front of her.

His hair was a mess, his make-up smeared across his face, the once intricate patterns he worked so hard to make destroyed. It looked like he had just woken up, actually. "Well, the shower's been running for twenty minutes. I never heard Gaara come home last night, so who the hell is in there? I didn't get an answer when I called out either."

"What do you mean? The shower was on when I tried over an hour..." Kankurou pushed Temari out of his way, and sprinted down the hall. "Gaara! Open the damn door now!" Kankurou had fully smashed into the door and started banging on it as loud as he could. "I swear, I will break this door down. Get your fucking ass out here!"

"What the hell are you doing? Let him take a shower! There's nothing wrong with that. He's probably hung-over." Temari walked down the hall, meeting her spastic brother at the bathroom door.

"When the hell has Gaara ever taken an hour long shower? You know he doesn't want to waste water. He doesn't like to do anything that might make him seem wasteful. Honestly, when do you ever remember him taking this long?"

"He used to do it all the time when--" Her eyes widened at the revelation. "Gaara! Open up! Please…please, just open up." Her voice became weaker as she slunk down to the ground. "He wouldn't do it again would he? He promised he stopped." She looked into her brother's eye, wanting reassurance that _it_ was not happening again.

Kankurou stopped banging on the door, dropping his head down. He hand was still clenched tightly into a fist. "He already has. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, 'Ri. Really, I am. He promised me not to tell you. He doesn't want you to worry about him. He didn't tell me, I just saw it and figured it out." His hand was shaking now as he slowly pounded on the door. "Gaara, please open up."

"Why the hell wouldn't you tell me? That is definitely something I should know about." She looked up at him, but their eyes never met.

"He told me not to."

"But..."

"He _begged_ me not to tell you. I couldn't tell him 'no,' 'Ri. You know I couldn't."

She let out a long sigh. "We still have to get him out of there. No telling how long he's been there. What if he's--You don't think he's…" Temari didn't even want to finish that sentence; she could feel the bile rising in her throat for thinking it.

Kankurou stepped back, bringing his foot up. "You might want to move."

Temari drug herself up and moved to the side, watching Kankurou kick the door in on the first try.

He slowly made his way into the bathroom, hoping that the scene of never-ending blood didn't grace his eyes. "Gaara," he spoke tentatively; the bathroom steam had long been used up, and not a trace of heat was felt.

* * *

Neji woke to the horrible stench of liquor covering his body. He attempted to wet his chapped lips, but it felt like ragged sand paper scraping across them. "I want water," he croaked out to himself. As he slowly sat up, the room began to spin. 'Stupid hangovers.' He flopped back into bed, eyes screwed shut from the bright light. Neji willed the unending motion to stop.

"You fucking up yet, yeah?" a voice called from the doorframe.

He groaned pathetically and turned over. "You're too loud. Shut up and go away."

"Maybe I should have said that last night when your friends brought you here, yeah. You were completely drunk, and on the verge of passing out, yeah. Should have just left you on my doorstep. Who cares if your ass would have froze to death, yeah?" Deidara turned to walk out slowly. "There's water on the stand, yeah."

Neji had turned around to answer him, but the blond was gone. He sat up slowly, not wanting the room to start it's violent spinning again. He sipped the water cautiously, trying to ease the unavoidable churning of his stomach. Eventually everything slowed to a stop. The room finally stood still, his head didn't feel like it was about to explode, and he was definitely _not_ going to throw up. He thought now would be a good time to find out what the hell was up Deidara's ass.

"Dei, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"Nothing, yeah. It's nothing. I don't feel like talking about it, yeah."

"Well, just because you're pissed off doesn't mean you have to take it out on me," he snorted before taking a seat beside him on the couch.

Deidara moved over slightly, glaring. "You're my fucking problem, yeah. It's your fault, yeah."

"What the hell did _I_ do?"

"Not what; who, yeah." He looked down at the floor, repeating the same thing in his head: 'this is not a relationship. I can't be mad.'

"What the hell are you talking about? "Who" I did? I haven't "done" anybody." He stood up from the couch inching closer to Deidara. "What do you seem to know that I don't?"

"Nothing. Just forget it, yeah. This conversation never happened, yeah." He got up, squeezing past Neji, attempting to make his way back to his sketchbook. However, he wouldn't take more then two steps before he was pulled back into Neji's chest.

"What's wrong? Look, I didn't mean to upset you, but I can't fix it if you wont say anything."

Deidara fell back against Neji's chest, hating himself. That stupid heart of his pushed him closer. Why couldn't his brain speak up for once? He was mad, but he didn't have a reason to be mad in the first place. Or did he? Life wasn't supposed to be like this. He had what he wanted, and it didn't matter to him that he was just being used. If that was truly the case then why did it hurt so badly now? He turned over burying him into Neji's shirt, mumbling softly.

* * *

What the hell am I doing? I shouldn't be doing this. I should be yelling at you. Screaming obscenities, cursing the day you were born. But it's not like that. I'm still here, leaning on you, relishing the sensation of your fingers in my hair. I wore it down today, just so I didn't have to mess with it. Neither one of us speaks for once; it's a comfortable silence. The steady beat of your heart slows down from the erratic pace; your breath is now controlled, softened by the comfort. I should be mad, I want to be mad, but I can't. As much as I would like to, I can't. Gods, I'm truly pathetic.

Most people pride themselves on being independent, but not me. I have what I want, and as much as it hurts, I think I'll die inside before I let this go, at least that's what my heart is telling me. As much as life sucks, and as much as I'm pissed off at you, my heart wont let me be angry. For a second my breath hitches, you're leaning down. Your lips press against my cheek. Honestly, I can say that it is probably the most single sweetest thing you've ever done.

I close my eyes for a second, just for the moment. When I open them and cast them toward the ground, looking over your shoulder. That's it. The reason for all my anger is back. I can't believe I still have it. Who the hell am I kidding? I save everything. Every one of my memories is in this home, forever etched onto paper. It's only one that stands out in the stack. The one I drew the day you broke up. It's him sitting on top of that hill. That's the reason I'm mad. You fucked him! And you're with me! Oh god, I sound like a fucking soap opera. I have to do it. I pull away.

* * *

"You fucked him, yeah!"

Neji stumbled back against the wall. "What the hell are you talking about? _Who _are you talking about?" But then he remembered. Last night was still fuzzy in his alcohol-induced head. "…Oh." He turned away. "Well, he wanted it. Like I was going to turn it down? You knew that you were just a convenience, didn't you? Why would you think any differently now?"

"You fucking whore, yeah. That's what you are. A fucking whore!" Tears ran down Deidara's face in abundance. This wasn't supposed to hurt like this. It wasn't like he was in love with Neji. Then again, they had spent a lot of time together. People's feelings change without them ever knowing it. Then again he had always wanted Neji. Now he finally had him, but he knew this wasn't what love should have been.

"I'm not a whore. You knew what _this_ was when we got together. Why would you think it was any different now? I don't love you, I never will. I love Gaara. You were just something to help me forget."

"That's it, yeah! I should have left you to fucking die last night. Why the hell did I fall for you in the first place, yeah? You are nothing in my eyes. Get the fuck out, yeah." His voice was trembling in an attempt to choke back his tears. "What are you waiting for, yeah? Get the fuck out, now! I don't need this, yeah." Out of pure frustration he picked up the sketchbook and chucked it at Neji's head, "Now, yeah".

Neji scoffed at the infantile gesture. "You should really learn some anger management."

"Fuck you, yeah! Get out!" He picked up everything that had even a miniscule amount of weight to it and threw it across the room. It always failed to hit its mark.

Neji walked out solemnly, shutting the door on that chapter of his life forever. It's not like he cared. In the end he got what he wanted: Gaara. Maybe he would call him later. Then they could start over. That seemed like a good plan.

* * *

"Hey, Sasuke." Sakura lay wrapped in her lover's arms. "Do you think Gaara will be okay? I'm kind of worried about him, you know."

"Hn. Don't worry about it. He'll be fine. He's never really been that big on emotions in the first place. Well, ever since I've known him." He shrugged, and pulled Sakura closer.

"I don't really know. Did you see his face last night? There was nothing there, like he wasn't even a person anymore. Just blank." She rolled over to look into his nigrescent eyes.

"Since when has he ever showed emotion in them?"

"Well, maybe not in front of you, but I don't know, me and him just connect. I've seen it, but I have _never_ seen that look in his eyes, _ever_."

"Stop worrying so much. You've known him for four months, maybe you don't know as much about him as you think."

"Hmm… Maybe…" but Sakura still couldn't get the image of last night out of her mind.

* * *

_Sakura walked out onto the balcony, Sasuke in tow. She wasn't really doing much in the way of walking - it was more of a shuffle, stumble, and then Sasuke catching her before her face planted onto the ground._

_Sasuke grunted as he caught her once again. "Sakura, you really don't need to drink this much, ever."_

_Sakura giggled slightly. "But you love me though. So you'd take care of me regardless, right?"_

"_Hn."_

_She threw her hands up in frustration. "'Hn' is not an answer, nor will it ever be! God I swear… Gaara!" _

_The smaller boy just turned away, staring blankly at the bench. He didn't see anything; Sakura didn't even think he acknowledged her. It was like no one was there; his mind was a blank slate. Sasuke had taken this time to pull Neji off of him, setting him on the floor, while Sakura took her jacket to place it over Gaara's prone form, small bruises already forming on his wrists. _

"_Umm… Sasuke, do you think you and Naruto can take Neji home?" _

_Sasuke sat there for a minute attempting to wake Neji up. Of course, Sasuke wasn't as nice as most people should have been. "Wake up. What the hell did you do?" He smacked him across his face a few times before his pallid eyes opened._

"_Wha…? Huh? Oh, what does it look like I did?" Neji smirked at the dark-haired boy. _

"_You're just bad, Neji. Let's get you home. Gaara's asleep anyways." Sasuke sighed, having the slightest feeling that Neji wasn't exactly telling the entire truth. _

_Neji nodded slowly before getting up and walking back into the party._

"_Gaara, do you want me to take you home?" Sakura sat down on the ground beside him, staring intently, waiting for some reaction. _

"_No… Just let me stay here for a little bit. I don't want to move." His voice never changed, the same pitch same speed. Sakura would have preferred a crying, sobbing, screaming Gaara to this. _

"_Okay." Sakura sat there, indulging in the silence. Waiting - wanting to ask the obvious. "Hey, Gaara?" She watched him turn to her slowly, never looking at her, but past her. "What happened?" _

_He voice held a tinge of bitterness. "I got what I wanted." He turned over, eyes reflecting the emptiness of the night sky._

_

* * *

_

"Oh. My. God. Gaara, what did you do?" Temari cried at the scene in front of her; Kankurou sighed.

'Well, at least he didn't kill himself.' Kankurou was vaguely happy with this thought, but the scene in front of him was still heartbreaking.

Gaara sat there, shivering; his lips had turned a sickly grey color. Kankurou leaned forward, slowly turning off the water. His skin was raw, blood slowly dripping down his arms and legs. Kankurou had to practically rip the pumice stone away. He stepped back to grab a towel, and wrapping it around his brother, he attempted to warm him up. "Temari. Get the car started, I need to get him to the hospital."

She walked out, tears streaming down her face. "Okay."

"Gaara, what happened? What did you do?" He sighed, being careful not to upset the raw and bloodied skin. However, Gaara wouldn't answer; he just stared back at him. Kankurou sighed, carrying him into his bedroom. "I'm going to have to set you down for a minute." Gaara nodded in response, wincing from the contact of the sheets. He walked over, pulling out a pair of sweats, boxers, and an oversized tee shirt. He peeled the towel off of his brother, attempting to dress him.

"No! Stop!" Gaara pushed him away.

"Gaara! Stop struggling. I need to get you dressed."

" No! I need to get back in the shower. I'm not clean now. I'm still not clean." He closed his eyes, rubbing his arms, trembling.

"Gaara, stop. I don't know what happened, but you have to stop this. Look at you! Half your skin has peeled off. What would posses you to do this?" Kankurou ripped his hands away, holding them away from his body.

"No, Aniki. I'm not clean yet. I'm still not clean." He broke down, whimpering softly into his brother's arm.

"Let me get you dressed. I need to take you back to the hospital."

Gaara didn't answer. He simply went limp, allowing his brother to dress him. He could vaguely feel his skin sticking to the fabric, giving the satisfying sting of pain as he peeled it away. Kankurou picked him up and slowly carried him to the car.

Temari waited impatiently; Kankurou could see her fingers tapping frantically on the steering wheel. He climbed into the back seat. "Come on, 'Ri. Just drive." He pulled his brother's limp body closer, still trying to warm him, comfort him, or just do something.

* * *

**DK's Notes:** Yeah, well this was supposed to be updated before I left. However, I am here in Ohio, Updating while JK DDR's, then we switch after I finished a scene, or a paragraph, what ever. Hope you enjoy. Oh yeah and to warn all the SasuSaku fans… the next few chapters will be minimal with them. REVIEW DAMMIT!I WORKED HARD!

**Junsui Kegasu's BETA Notes: **…I don't even know how to type out the noise I just made. I really don't. Anyone (and I mean seriously, anyone) who has talked to me on the phone knows what it is, though. ("It's like a mixture between "Ah" and "Wah"!") T.T! Gaawa! Nooo…pumice stones are to stay in the damn volcanoes!


	14. Everything

A/N: I swear I am getting so horrible with this. The updates are coming slower and slower. The good news is that after April work slows down tremendously. So yay! On an angry note I will stat this one more time, and that is final.

WARNING: THIS IS A PART YAOI STOY. IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE PAIRINGS, DON'T READ IT, AND DON'T REVIEW ME SAYING THAT I AM DISGUSTING, OR WHATEVER. I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT! GAH! (ends rant)

* * *

Chapter 14: Everything 

I can't breathe. I can't even move. This must be what death feels like. Sometimes I think I have a fate worse then death: life. Somehow, I know I'm not dead. It's too bright to be Hell, and with my life that's where I'm sure I'd be. I have to shut my eyes again; it's blinding. I can't remember ever being anywhere with so much brightness. I try to move, but I can't. It hurts too much. Besides, I think I'm strapped down. I turn my head slightly.

I know you. I'm pretty sure I do. Why do you look so sad? I think you're sad, but my vision is still blurry. I want to remember something, anything, but I can't. The last few days don't even exist in my head anymore. I close my eyes again. I need to know what I did. All I can feel is my whole body throbbing, pulsating with pain.

I do know one thing: I know I didn't cut myself again; it hurts too much. This fiery sensation of pain is more then I can bear. I call out to you, but my voice is so weak that I can barely make out my own whisper over the constant beeping. Somehow I manage you attention. Those eyes. Even the through the deepest brown I can see the blue tint of sadness behind them. Slowly you step over to me, your gaze flickers to my bandaged body as you can only utter one small word, but that one simple word holds so much turmoil, so much pain. It claws at my soul: "Why?"

* * *

A young man in a white lab coat walked into the door, pulling Kankurou aside. "I see that he's awake right now. We gave him a much-needed sedative to dull the pain. He won't be coherent or mobile for much of the day. It seems your brother suffered from some traumatic event. Has he had any problems with mental stability in the past?" 

"I have already told about five different people the same thing; yes, he has. Gaara's been through so much shit in his life. I've witnessed most of it, but was too young to stop it." Kankurou sighed heavily. He had been through this too much already today. Temari had to leave for work. She tried to get someone to cover her workload, but they needed her, leaving Kankurou to answer everything. Kankurou was still uncertain if she would be able to function. After all, her baby brother was lying in a hospital right now.

"Okay. Well, can you tell me exactly what he's suffered from?" The young man pushed up his glasses, scribbling something down on his note pad.

"Mostly depression, along with a few... Look can you just tell me what's going on with him? I mean look at him! No one has been able to tell me a damn thing about this. All they keep doing is coming in here, and asking the same questions over, and over again. Frankly, I'm sick of it. It's time I got some answers, dammit! What's wrong with him? Is he going to be okay? I need to _know_ something!" He dropped back into his chair, closing his eyes slowly.

This whole thing had exhausted him. He had already spent one day here. Gaara had been so scared at first, not even really comprehending anything that was being said. He just kept screaming about how dirty he was. That was until they knocked him out. It was rather hard for them to do, considering most of the spots where needles were placed were oozing blood. Everything from his neck to his knees was raw. Kankurou thought that he wouldn't have been satisfied until all traces of flesh were torn away.

"I'm sorry, but--"

"Look, I don't want to hear "I'm sorry." I'm his guardian, dammit! He's got no family besides his sister and me. So let me know something, or get the Hell out."

The young man sighed, taking a seat next to him, unaware that green eyes followed their every move. "Your brother, Gaara… He's going to be here for a while. With the damage he's done to his skin... Well. I'll just put it this way. What your brother did essentially was burn himself, just without the flame. The skin has seven layers; your brother has succeeded in removing the first two. With that in mind there is high risk for infection, and a possibility of death without proper care. I would like to keep him here at least until the skin starts to heal."

Kankurou took in the words, each sentence weighing him down slowly. "Dead? Gaara could die?"

"Yes. That _is_ what I'm saying. Without proper treatment he will get an infection, and die. A person's skin is there for protection. Without it the body becomes infected, and can die. The reason for all the questions was to see if we should give him any medication while he was here."

"No. He doesn't. Now leave. I need to talk to him. Alone."

* * *

That's it. I can't take it any more. I don't want to be in this house. I can't believe I was so stupid. I told myself that I wasn't going to fall for him. Maybe if I can hit my head on this table a few more times my brain will fall out of my skull, and I'll die. No. With my luck, the doctors will find some way to put it back in, and I'll just be brain dead for the rest of my life. 

I thought I could deal with the fact that I was being used. I lied to myself, though. What a beautiful lie it was, too. That is… until you destroyed it. You brought my world crashing down. I knew it would happen. I can even say I knew it would hurt, but is it really supposed to hurt this much?

All of this sucks - you suck. Everything about you and this environment sucks. I haven't even gotten myself off the floor yet. I'm still looking at the door you walked out of. You left twelve hours ago. I can almost laugh at myself. I'm pathetic. Some part of me wants to believe that you will walk right through that door, and tell me you made a mistake. Then I will gladly take you back. _He _will lose you for the second time, and I can have you all to myself again. Sadly, reality never plays out the way people want it to. In the end, nobody's happy.

I should turn that into a picture. "There are no happy endings. Only death." My depressed mind will think highly of that one. Sometimes I find such beauty in pain. Not right now, though. Right now I need a shower, and I need to leave. I just can't take sitting in this house any longer. Your sent is everywhere, screaming infidelities.

That's it. I need to leave. I try to get up, but in the end I fall right back down. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to sit on my knees for twelve hours. At least the stinging in my legs could distract me for a small increment of time.

* * *

Sakura walked down the road. She was pissed. Actually, "pissed" would not be an appropriate term for her. She was _livid_. She had briefly seen Temari on her way to visit Gaara. She was shocked to find him not there, but Temari told her all that had happened. She tried to talk to her young friend. In the end Sakura walked off fuming, saying that she would explain later if Gaara didn't. 

"Stupid, fucking Neji. I swear if anything happens to him I'll kill him myself. It's not like I don't have the influence now."

'That's right. I'm going to be another whore to seal a deal.'

'No. Right now is not the time to be thinking of me, but I need to think about Gaara. He need someone now.' Sakura's train of thought slowly became derailed as her body weight was slammed down to the ground.

"I'm so terribly sorry. I really should have been watching where I was going." Sakura stood up finally looking at whom she had crashed into. "Oh... I'm sorry really. Please excuse me. I'm needed somewhere." Sakura stepped to the side, spinning around and attempting to walk off. She found herself pulled back by the wrist, and soon found out that her wrist was attached to someone's arm.

She glared up at the blond. "What? I really need to leave."

"Well... Never mind, yeah." He released her, but kept his eyes locked on her face.

"Look if you got something to say, just say it. I don't have time for your stammering." She looked back at Deidara crossly, hands gripping at her hips before turning around quickly, and walking away.

"You're friends with Gaara, yeah? I need you to do something for me, yeah." She stopped in her tracks, never turning, just waiting. "Just tell Gaara congratulations, yeah. He won." Deidara vaguely heard a small laugh coming from the pink haired girl.

"Look. You have no idea what you're talking about." She paused deciding whether to inform him. "Just go to the fourth floor at Konoha General, room 423 and you'll get your answer." With that she walked off, not wanting to hear a reply.

"Konoha General? Isn't that a hospital, yeah?" Deidara shrugged, sketchbook in hand, and walked away. He would just have to visit later.

'What the hell did that stupid girl mean, yeah? "I'll get my answer…"' He shook his head, sitting down beside a tree and pulling out a small piece of charcoal that had been worn down to a nub. It was not like he had the money to buy more. Art supplies were expensive, and he had no family, or money for that fact. He looked up one last time before going back to the blank paper. 'It looks like rain.'

* * *

Sakura quickened her pace, trying desperately to make it to the hospital before the frigid December air frosted her lungs. She could faintly hear her name being called from in front of her only to look up into a pair of pale eyes. "Hey Hinata." She tried to hide her mood with a false smile, but her long time friend saw right through it. 

"What's wrong? You look out of it." She cocked her head slightly in worry.

"Nothing... Actually would you mind coming with me? I'm going to the hospital. Don't ask any questions. I'll explain on the way. We still have a ten minute walk." Sakura continued walking. She figured that if Hinata were coming she'd fall into step slightly behind her like she always did.

Hinata leaned forward attempting to look into Sakura's eyes. "So what's wrong? Who's in the hospital?"

Sakura sighed watching a large puff of vapor escape her lips. "Gaara... The other night at the party he was... Well… Neji raped him."

* * *

Kankurou leaned over the bed, looking into his brother's dead eyes. "Gaara. I wish you'd talk to me. I don't know what happened. As much as you've been through, I really don't know what could have set you off so badly." Kankurou felt like he was talking to a corpse. He never talked. He would hardly blink, even. Then again, the doctor had said that he would be sedated for the next few days. If he were not, the pain would be unbearable. "Look. I'm going to go get some food. I'll be back soon. I promise." 

Kankurou left tentatively. He could have sworn he saw a slight twitch of fear in his brother's eyes. Then again he might have just blinked. Kankurou stepped out the door only to be greeted by two solemn faces. "Hey guys. Um... Gaara's really out of it right now, so I don't know if he'll talk to anyone, but I'm going to get some coffee. I'll be back in ten minutes. Would you mind looking after him for a minute, Sakura?"

"Sure. Anything you need from me. I'm here."

"Thanks. Oh. Do you by any chance know what happened to him? I mean what caused him to do this? He won't talk. The only thing I got out of him was something about being dirty."

"Well… I do know, but I don't want to say anything. It's his choice whether he tells you or not. Sorry." She looked away, her heart feeling like it would retch. She couldn't look at that pained look in Kankurou's eyes, even if she didn't know him that well. Sakura could only imagine what he was going through. She only heard a long sigh, and a quick "thanks" before he disappeared down the hall. She took in a long shuddering breath before pushing the door open and stepping in. She could only prey that it would turn out all right.

* * *

I'm vaguely aware that the door opened. Maybe Kankurou came back already. He must have been worried. Then again, he hasn't left this room since I came here. I'm sure Temari would have stayed if it wasn't for her job. I heard her pleading on the phone to let someone else take her shift, but no one would cover for her. Some co-workers she has. I still haven't realized why I'm here. I really do want to remember. I need to start piecing things together. 

My whole body hurts so badly. It feels like I'm suffocating on the inside. The doctors changed the bandages three times already today. At least that's what I can remember. I can't even look at myself. I'm disgusting. I hear a feminine voice call out to me. Okay, so I was wrong. It wasn't Kankurou, and it doesn't sound like Temari. Who else would know I'm here? I turn my head to see the intruders.

No! Those eyes! Everything washes over me. It's flooding my mind, choking my air off. No! Go away! I don't want to see you. Not you! I never want to see you. You've killed me. I'm not even a person because of you! Those pale eyes burn holes through my soul. Go away, now! I can't look at you…

I can hear someone screaming. Maybe it's me, but the fear has taken a hold of me so strongly I can barely breathe. Maybe if I stop trying, I'll die. I feel someone grab my arms, trying to push me down.

No… not again! This can't be happening again. I don't want to be hurt. I'm so tired of being hurt. I can feel the pain ripping up my spine again. No! Not again! Why are you doing this to me? What did I do to deserve this?

I think some one's calling to me. I don't know whom. I don't want to know. Don't look at me… ever. My soul is gone; I'm nothing more then a body. You did this to me, Neji! This is your entire fault!

Then he's gone. The memory's not though. I can still feel his breath on my skin, the pain in my back - the cold steel of the bench. Just make it stop. Make it all go away.

* * *

Kankurou almost dropped his cup of coffee when a familer screech was heard down the hall. He looked up in time to see an extremely frightened girl leaning against the wall, gasping for breath. 

"Gaara?" He sprinted down the hall, only to find the yelling increasing in volume. There were two voices. One could be made out distinctly as Gaara's. The other belonged to his pink-haired friend. He took a quick glance at the pale-eyed girl before looking into the room. Gaara had actually broken on of the restraints, and was well on his way to breaking the other one. He yelled down the hall at a passing doctor.

"My brother is flipping out! We need help! _Now!_"

The doctor jumped slightly at the tone, but made his way to a phone to call for help.

Kankurou bolted in the door, only to find Sakura attempting to restrain him. "What the hell happened?"

"I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking. He just took one look at Hinata, and flipped. I'm sorry. I really didn't think he would have been this bad!"

"What the hell are you talking about? Why would he freak so badly after seeing Hinata? What are you not telling me?" He Sat on the bed, being careful of Gaara's bandaged thighs. Grabbing his marred hands, he forced them to the bed. "Gaara calm down! Please. Just calm down!"

Three doctors stormed in the room, armed with a very threatening looking needle. "Try to hold him still."

Kankurou and Sakura did their best to try and still him as the doctor pulled down his pants, and injecting it into his thigh. Within moments Gaara had visibly calmed. His screams became soft mumbles, as Kankurou turned to her.

"You will tell me everything. He's never been this bad. I don't care if it's not your place. Tell me. Why the hell would he freak out so bad from looking at Hinata?"

"It's her eyes. Even though she's Neji's cousin, they do bare a striking resemblance. Don't you think?"

Kankurou glared at her. "What the fuck does Neji have to do with this?"

Sakura sighed. "Everything."

* * *

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

"Fucking rain, yeah." Deidara sighed, closing his book and tucking it under his shirt. He could not afford his artwork to be destroyed. Other people had pictures or a journal to keep memories fresh. He just had his sketchpad.

_"You're friends with Gaara, yeah? I need you to do something for me, yeah." She stopped in her tracks, never turning, just waiting. "Just tell Gaara congratulations, yeah. He won." Deidara vaguely heard a small laugh coming from the pink haired girl._

_"Look. You have no idea what you're talking about." She paused deciding whether to inform him. "Just go to the fourth floor at Konoha General, room 423 and you'll get your answer." With that she walked off, not wanting to hear a reply._

"Well, looks like now would be as good a time as any, yeah."

He got up and made his way towards the hospital, pondering the entire time what Sakura could have possible meant by that. 'Why would Gaara be in the hospital? Maybe Neji fucked him so hard that he had a heart attack, and now he's in the hospital for exertion, yeah.' Just then, the rain seemed to pour harder from the sky. Deidara sprinted the rest of the way.

'No reason to get completely soaked, yeah.'

Deidara took one last sigh before entering the horrid blandness of the hospital. "I swear this place is so dull and morbid, yeah. They should put in something other than white, yeah." He made his way through deserted stairways and empty halls, all the while his shoes never once drying, continuing their never-ending squeaking. Deidara could have sworn it to be the most irritating and indescribable sound ever. He paused outside Gaara's room. Taking in a deep breath, he walked in slowly.

"Doesn't look like anyone's h--" His eyes focused on a lump of white in the bed, only a tuft of bright red standing out.

'Well, there's the color I asked for, yeah.'

"Gaara?" Deidara heard the slight shifting, and took that as a sign that he had been noticed. "What the hell happened to you, yeah?"

He just blinked in return. With Deidara unaware of the fact that he had been heavily sedated only half an hour ago, he continued.

"What the hell are you doing in a hospital, yeah? You won. Shouldn't you be out celebrating or something, yeah? I just don't get it. You've won. You always did. For once, why couldn't you just let me have him, yeah? You didn't need him. I did, yeah. It's not fair. It's fucking not fair! I can't fucking stand you, yeah!" He took a step closer to the bed. "Why couldn't you just give up, yeah?" By this time, Deidara had finally looked over Gaara's body. Bandages covered him everywhere. The only thing left uncovered that Deidara could see was his face: that ever-present blankness. "What the fuck happened to you, yeah?" Deidara was answered by silence. "Fine, don't fucking talk to me, yeah. Sakura's a fucking liar. This didn't answer a thing, yeah."

Deidara flung the door open only to run into someone. "Sorry, yeah." He stormed past him, disappearing down the hall.

"Gaara? What the hell was that about?" Kankurou walked over, looking at him to make sure nothing on him was harmed. "Dammit, Gaara! I know you can hear me. Just say something - anything. At least let me know you're okay."

"Aniki," Gaara paused slightly before continuing. "Is "squick" a word?"

"_What_?"

"You know. Squick. That boy... The one who was yelling at me… his shoes were making noises from the rain outside. It's not really a squeaking noise. It's just… squick."

Kankurou sighed loudly. "I'm blaming that question on the sedative."

* * *

_**DK's authoress notes**: Please forgive me! It's been a horrible two months. I haven't updated in two months! stands at the edge of a bridge I swear I'll jump. Please forgive me! I'm so sorry this took so long. I don't really have an excuse... it's just been a bad few months. Please review as always._

**Junsui Kegasu's BETA Notes: **Ahh… we both are the masters of short chapters this time around, ne, ne? It's a nice ending place (and one typical to you!) I really need to kill Neji at this point.


End file.
